2013 Thomas Episode Adaptations
by ThomasZoey3000
Summary: Stories of Thomas the Tank Engine & all his friends, set in the year 2013.
1. Salty's Replacement?

In this folder, the stories are all set in the year 2013, the year Season 17 came out. The following adaptation you're about to read was actually completed in January, but I never got around to posting it. Oh and if you're wondering about Camille, she's a character that was created by my friend 'D.J. Scales' and is used with his permission.

 _ **Salty's Replacement?**_

 _ **Based on "Away From the Sea" (2013)**_

Edward's branch line has many engines working on it. One of the most friendly engines there is a little red diesel named Salty. He came to the branch line in 2002 and ever since, has proven to be a hard working dockside diesel. He loves working there and wouldn't want to anywhere else, not even a quarry.

When he first arrived on Sodor, he was sent to the Ffarquhar quarry to help with an important order. He was unhappy there because he was so far away from the sea, but once he was told he was to work at Brendam Docks on Edward's branch line, he cheered up at once and hasn't lost the cheerful attitude since.

" _Don't take me away from the sea boys, don't take me away from the sea,_ " he sang to the trucks.

Bill and Ben watched him work, "I still don't know how he manages those trucks," Bill whispered to Ben, "he makes the job look so easy."

Before Ben could agree, there came a coughing sound, followed by a crash. They looked to see that Salty had stopped suddenly and his trucks went crashing into some buffers.

"Ow, that hurt," they groaned.

"Sorry me hearties, didn't mean to stop like that. Me engine must have some baricals, nothing that a breath of sea air can't fix."

But Salty's Driver wasn't so sure about that, "your engine's been acting like this for a while now and this is the third incident you've had. I'm starting to think that being close to the sea is doing harm to your engine."

"Nonsense, I've worked at dockyards for years and never had a problem."

Salty rattled out of the siding to do some more shunting, but now his engine was making spluttering noises which considered everyone, even Cranky.

"You should go to the Dieselworks and have that engine of yours looked over," he called.

"No thank you Captain, I rather not, me engine is fine."

Salty thought that if he went to the works, they may say they agree with his Driver, inform the Fat Controller and then it's back to the quarry with him. No matter what, he was determined to stay at the docks.

A few days later, Salty was arranging trucks for BoCo to take when he heard an unfamilar whistle. He looked down the tracks and saw a grey tank engine with yellow hazard stripes and three domes puff in with a brake van in tow.

"Ahoy there matey," Salty called cheerfully, "what brings you here to our dockyards?"

"I'm here to help out as workloads are increasing," answered the engine. "My name's Porter, what's yours?"

"They call me Salty laddie, the dockside diesel." He greeted Porter with a cheerful honk on his horn, but then he started coughing and spluttering again. "Sorry, a little splutter with me engine. So you say you're here to help with workloads?"

"Yep, and I'm also here to work in your place," came the reply.

Salty was aghast, "but I'm not going anywhere, my engine's just fine."

"The Fat Controller knows that, but he wants you to go to the Dieselworks just to make sure you don't break down. He also said," Porter continued, "that after you shunt the goods train together, you have to shunt yourself onto that train as it's going to Vicarstown."

Salty didn't like the idea, but he knew better than to go aganist orders. He finished his shunting and was coupled up to the train. When BoCo arrived, he coupled up to Salty and rattled away.

"Don't worry Salty, they'll have you fixed up in no time," BoCo said kindly.

"I hope it's quickly, otherwise I'll be out of a job," but he said it to himself.

It took a few days for Salty's engine to be fixed, so Porter was kept busy working alone at the docks. He didn't mind as there was always someone to talk to.

"Why do you have three domes?" Bill asked one day. "You look like a camel."

"Hush," snapped Molly. "That's no way to speak to newcomers."

Porter just chuckled, "no it's okay, I've been called that many times before, even back in the States, that's where I came from by the way. Anyways, I have only one steam dome, but the other two hold all the sand I need."

"But why are they up there?" Ben asked.

"It's to help keep the sand warm and dry for any use."

To prove his point, Porter backed up a bit, dropping sand on the rails.

The twins and Molly were impressed.

At the Dieselworks, the workers were working away on the Diesel shunter, but Salty was getting impatient. Camille, the daughter of Diesel's Driver and one of the workers, could see this.

"Calm yourself down Salty, you're getting yourself worked up over nothing."

"Oh you don't understand lass, if I don't get back to the docks soon, the new engine Porter will have my job, and the captain; the Fat Controller, will have me sent back to the quarry."

"No," gasped Den.

"Impossible," said Camille. "You're a dockside diesel for crying out loud, not a quarry engine like Mavis."

"I know," groaned Salty. "I know."

Finally, Salty's engine was fixed and was working perfectly again. Salty coupled up to a brake van and started away, singing a little sea shantie. But he hadn't gone far before...

"Look out!"

CRASH! Salty bashed into some trucks, making oil barrels fly and spilling their oil everywhere, including on Salty.

"I tried to warn you," said Sidney from another line. "You should go back into the shops and have yourself cleaned up Salty."

"No thank you matey, I'll be fine," he said with a smile on his face. "As long as my engine works perfectly, I'm going to head back to the docks."

And so he left, without getting cleaned up first. Sidney had a feeling Salty would land in trouble.

"Gotta get back, gotta get back," Salty muttered to himself. "Must save my job, must save my job."

Suddenly, his wheels slipped on the rails. The oil was dripping down from his frames and onto the rails, "Steady boy," cautioned his Driver and he turned a lever. This in turn released sand out of Salty's sand box, allowing him to grip the rails again.

"Hmm, I could do with a little wash," he admitted. "I'm sure the workmen wouldn't mind once I finish my jobs."

At the docks, BoCo was coupling up to some China Clay hoods when he heard Salty's horn. Moments later, the diesel shunted came into view.

"Ahoy maties, your old pal Salty is back on the job," he cheered happily.

His Driver applied the brakes, but Salty just slid on the rails. He wasn't smiling now. All of his sand boxes were empty and now he was heading straight to some empty china clay trucks Bill and Ben were suppose to take away. He bashed into them, but he still couldn't stop, he just kept sliding along.

Porter could see this and knew what to do.

"Let's stop him," he said to his Driver.

The Driver nodded and opened the regulator. Porter charged forward and bashed right into the other end of Salty's train. Using his own sand and brakes, Porter was able to slow the runaway down and bring it to a safe stop.

"Yes, that worked," smiled Porter. "You alright Mate?"

"Yes, but I know what the captain will say once he learns of this."

"He already knows," said a voice. There standing on the quayside was the Fat Controller. "Salty, I am not impressed with you rushing into the docks and nearly causing an accident. Thank goodness Porter was here."

"Yes I guess so Sir," sighed Salty.

"Still, I like to know why you were rushing and not willing to go to the Dieselworks in the first place."

"Well Sir, I was worried that Porter would take over and you would send me back to the quarry." Salty paused before adding, "which I'm sure you're going to do anyways."

The Fat Controller was surprised by this, "of course not, I have no intensions of sending you away."

"Oh?" Salty raised an eyebrow when he heard this. "Then are you sending Porter away Sir?"

"No of course not, no one's going anywhere. I brought Porter here to help you with your work since the docks are becoming busier than ever, as Cranky knows all too well." He eyed the big crane, who turned away. "This is to help you Salty, not replace you."

"Oh thank you Captain," smiled Salty. "I'm sure Porter and I will get along just fine."

"I sure hope so."

While Salty was being cleaned, Porter went along the line Salty used and poured plenty of sand to cover the dripping oil. Then after that, the two engines went to work shunting trucks around the yards. The trucks of course tried to play tricks on Porter, but after Salty taught him his secret of singing to the trucks, he found that shunting was no trouble at all.

Salty is glad to have Porter helping out at the docks, but he's happiest being at the docks, where he truely belongs. Working and singing all the way.

" _Don't take me away from the Sea Boys, don't take me away from the Sea._ "

As for Porter, I'm sure he's going to enjoy working alongside Salty at the docks, but there's still the matter of Bill and Ben. That however will have to wait for the next story.


	2. Gordon Gets Stuck

This adaptation was completed before Christmas 2014 and was posted before then. Oh and if you're about Barry, he's the cancelled RWS Character and is based on the Ivatt class locomotives from the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

 _ **Gordon Gets Stuck**_

 _ **Based on "The Frozen Turntable" (2013)**_

It was the end of another busy day. Bear was heading back to the sheds after taking 'The Limited'. He was looking forward to a good night's rest. Upon arrival, he found all the other engines waiting outside and workmen working on the turntable.

"What's going on here?" Bear asked. "Is this an inspection?"

"Not quite Bear," grumbled Henry. "The turntable's frozen and it's pointing to one berth. The foreman said this morning's thaw followed by the return of bitter cold winds caused everything to freeze. We don't know how long it will take till it starts working again."

"Right and until then, the berth is mine," boasted Gordon. "After all, I do have to pull the local tomorrow."

"Then sleep at the big station," Henry snorted. "I have to take the Kipper in the morning and I need some rest."

"I need the shed more than you two," grumbled James. "Snow isn't too kind to red paint you know."

The Big engines argued about who should take the berth until their crews finally quietened them down.

"What about Barry?" asked Bear. "He's got to take the Post Train and he'll need a berth to come back to."

"It's okay Bear, I'll just sleep outside. I don't mind really, I used to do that before remember?"

"Nonsense Barry, you should have the berth," said Bear's Driver. "The rest of the engines can find their own places to sleep for the night."

James, Henry and Gordon protested, but in the end, they all agreed to let Barry have the berth.

Arrangments were made and almost all the engines were sent to other sheds. James and Charlie went down the Little Western to spend the night with Duck and Oliver. Henry, Bear and Belle went to Knapford sheds where Murdoch and the others gave them a grand welcome.

Only Gordon was left, no one knew where to put him.

"Why not try the Steamworks?" suggested Splatter. "If I remember correctly, they've got a couple of sheds there."

"I'm not sleeping at the Works, it always makes me think of breaking down."

"Well you have to find somewhere to rest. It's not good for an engine to be left outside, as Dodge and I know all too well from our years of being out of service."

A guard's whistle sounded and the brothers rumbled off with a goods train.

"Well you can always try the Rubbish dump," suggested Dodge. "They got a spare shed there."

"Forget it, I'm not sleeping at the dump, it's out of the question!" Gordon shouted angerily.

"Alright I get it, you don't need to bite my head off."

The diesels rattled away, leaving Gordon alone. His crew were talking with the Stationmaster, but not even he could think of where Gordon could rest. They returned to their engine disappointed.

"Seems all the sheds are taken," groaned the Driver. "Got any ideas Gordon?"

At first, Gordon was going to say that he had no ideas, but then a sneaky idea came into his funnel. He was going to go back on his word made earlier.

"Splatter and Dodge said that Barry said he would sleep at the Rubbish Dump, so we can have the berth at Tidmouth."

The crew suspected nothing and took Gordon back to the sheds. The workmen were having a break, so it was quiet at the sheds. Gordon rolled into the berth, the fire was dropped and he went to sleep, sniggering quietly to himself.

It was late in the evening by the time Barry returned to the sheds. He was feeling tired and eager to get some sleep. But he was surprised to see Gordon in his berth.

"Gordon, what are you doing in there? Everyone agreed I was to have this berth."

"Sorry, but there's been a change in plans," yawned Gordon. "I'm to stay here for the night. There's a spare shed at Whiff's Rubbish Dump, you can go there."

"But you gave your word."

"Did I?" Gordon smirked.

Barry sighed, "I swear sometimes you let that foolish pride get the better of you."

"Never mind Barry, we'll just go to the Rubbish Dump," said his Driver.

Barry was too tried to argue anymore, so he puffed away without another word.

Gordon felt proud of himself and was actually enjoying the peace and quiet. "I should really ask the Fat Controller if I could have a shed of my own. It'd be better than listening to those noisy engines." And he dozed off to sleep, snoring a little bit in the process.

But it didn't last. **BANG! BANG!**

"What in blazes is going out there?" he cried.

The workmen were once again working on getting the turntable moving. They made so much noise that Gordon couldn't sleep.

When dawn finally came, Gordon was exhausted. His fireman soon arrived to get his fire going. When his Driver arrived, Gordon was ready to go.

"At least the wind will keep me awake as I puff along," Gordon thought to himself.

Before he could move, the foreman came up.

"We've finally got the turntable unstuck, you can use it now."

Gordon puffed proudly out of the berth and stopped on the turntable. A workmen turned it on and it moved, but only briefly. It had just turned away from the berth when it suddenly stopped. The turntable was still frozen and now, Gordon was stuck.

"The Fat Controller's not going to be happy when he hears about this," sighed the foreman.

And he wasn't. When he was informed of what happened, he went to the sheds expecting to see two trapped engines, but was surprised to see only Gordon stuck.

"Where is Barry? I was told by Belle that he was to sleep here last night."

The workmen were confused as well. Gordon sighed unhappily, "I took the berth Sir and told Barry to sleep at the rubbish dump. I could've taken the shed, but it wasn't dignified for me."

"You fibbed to us!" snapped his Driver. "When are you ever going to learn?"

Gordon said nothing. Just then, Barry arrived. He had had a good night's rest at the dump and was in a cheerful mood.

"Ah Barry, good timing," said the Fat Controller. "Due to some er...problems and fibs, changes are going have to be made for today's services. You will have to take James' stopping passenger train while he takes Gordon's train."

"But I normally take the local," grumbled Gordon.

"You can't take the local if you're stuck on the turntable. Besides, this will serve you right for going back on your word."

Gordon sulked unhappily.

The crew stayed with him, keeping him in steam, but they didn't speak to him. Meanwhile, the workmen worked away trying to get the turntable working again. Many engines passed by that day. Many were disappointed with Gordon, while others, like James and Henry teased him.

Gordon was now regretting his decision.

Finally by sundown, the turntable was working once more. The other engines were returning for a rest, but some couldn't resist having a tease with Gordon.

"Well Gordon, did you enjoy your rest?" asked Henry.

"No I did not. I haven't done anything today except sitting around doing nothing."

"Shocking," said James. "And here we thought you liked sitting around and being admired."

Gordon sulked. The Fat Controller then came up, "well Gordon, if you want to be a really useful engine, you can take Barry's post train."

"But Sir, I haven't slept a wink at all," Gordon protested. "Besides, the Post train services is best suited for an engine like Barry."

"Well tonight Gordon, the tables have, shall we say, turned and it's a perfect job for you."

The engines laughed as Gordon puffed unhappily away. He vowed to never again go back on his word, not unless he wants to get stuck again.


	3. A Restless Night for Caitlin

This adaptation was requested some time back, I'm not quite sure of when I was asked if I could write this one, but due to moving plans, other projects and my memory failing on me on occassion, it was never finished. Until now anyways. Also, due to Writer's block, I was out of the writing game for quite a while, but now that that's passed, I'm proud to present this adaptation of 'Calm Down Caitlin'. The next Season 17 episode I hope to adapte next should be based on 'Percy's Lucky Day'.

 _ **A Restless Night for Caitlin**_

 _ **Based on "Calm Down Caitlin!" (2013)**_

The sun was setting on another busy day. Caitlin the Streamlined pacific was waiting at the junction for Emily to arrive with passengers that had been visiting Ulfstead Castle. Sadly, Emily was running late and Caitlin was growing more and more impatient.

"Where is that Emily?" she grumbled. "I'm going to get into trouble with my Controller if she doesn't show up soon."

"Calm down girl," soothed her Driver. "Emily can't go as fast as you can, so it takes her a little longer to get here than some other engines. Just be patient."

But Caitlin didn't have any patience and continued to grumble. Finally Emily arrived with her coaches in tow.

"Sorry I'm late," she panted. "The farmer's sheep strayed onto the line again and we had to wait for him to clear them away."

Caitlin snorted, "you're just full of excuses aren't you? The problem is you're too old to do the job as quickly as us modern engines. You should be retired and replaced with a new steamer."

Emily was offended, "what a rude engine."

The passengers soon boarded Caitlin's coaches and she was ready to go, or so she thought. There came a groaning sound and the Driver stopped the train.

"What is going on this time?" groaned Caitlin, "I can't be delayed even more."

The fireman got down to see what was going on. The problem wasn't hard to find, "one of your tender brakes has locked on when they were suppose to come off. Looks like we will be delayed while we have them fixed."

Caitlin didn't like the idea, but there was nothing she could do about it. Connor was soon called and took Caitlin's passengers, along with his own, back to the Other Railway. Meanwhile, other engines had to be changed over to other lines to avoid hitting Caitlin. She did not enjoy the wait, but soon her tender brakes were fixed and she was able to go home, light engine.

She thundered along the main line, but soon had to come to a stop once again. A group of workmen had blocked off the Rolling River Bridge.

"Whatever is going on now?" groaned Caitlin.

"Sorry Caitlin," said one of the workmen, "but by order of Sir Topham Hatt, the bridge is to be worked on tonight as there have been reports of strange sounds coming from it. This job will take all night, so it looks like you'll have to spend the night on the Island."

"Oh drat it," groaned the Driver, who was looking forward to going home.

Caitlin on the other hand had a different view on the situation, "oh wow, a night on Sodor. Ever since I was built, I had wanted to spend a night here. Do you think it would be alright if I spend a night at Tidmouth sheds?"

"I don't see a reason why not," said the workman, "assuming there's any spaces left open tonight."

Caitlin was so thrilled to hear this that she cheered loud and long.

"Calm down girl," said her Driver firmly. "I know you're excited to be here tonight, but pretty much everyone is asleep at this time. You need to consider others and keep the noise down."

"Sorry," she whispered and slowly reversed back down the line to be turned around.

Once she had been turned around, Caitlin set off for Tidmouth Sheds. But along the way to Tidmouth, she forgot what her Driver had said and before long, she was blowing her whistle and cheering at the top of her voice, despite her crew telling her to be quiet.

At Tidmouth sheds, many of the engines were fast asleep, but not for long. Caitlin soon arrived and gasped when she saw the turntable, "that looks like fun," she said, "I want to ride on it."

So her crew put her on the turntable and turned her around on it.

"This is fun!" she giggled. Her giggling though woke up an engine, "oh hello Gordon, you're awake."

Gordon yawned, "well I was asleep, until someone started cheering," he grumbled. "What are you doing here Caitlin? Shouldn't you be back on the Other Railway with your friend Connor?"

From his berth, Barry opened a sleepy eye, "hello, I wonder what's going on here," he thought to himself.

"Rolling River Bridge is closed for repairs, so I'm to spend the night with you lot. I'm so excited about this, I've never spent a night on Sodor before."

"It clearly shows," muttered Gordon. "But since you are going to stay here, you need to be quiet. Try shutting your eyes and drifting off to sleep." Gordon did just that and soon was snoring softly.

"Who can sleep when you're on the magical Island of Sodor? There's so much to see and do, like tonight, all the lines were clear and I could have the run of my life." Gordon wasn't paying attention, he was fast asleep.

"Some engines need their rest Caitlin," Barry said wisely, "And so do you."

But Caitlin was far too excited to sleep. Then she saw Bear being coupled up to some post vans in the yards, "what is Bear doing over there?"

"He's taking the late night post train, so everyone will have their parcals and letters in the mail tomorrow morning. We all take in turns to pull that train, and tonight it's Bear's turn."

"Really? Well it sounds like an exciting job."

Gordon had been woken up by the chatter and really wanted Caitlin to be quiet. Suddenly, he came up with an idea, "well if you think it's fun, why don't you ask Bear if you can take the train in his place?"

"Oh, brilliant idea Gordon, I'll do just that."

"But Caitlin," groaned her Driver, "we've been working all day, we can't go on throughout the night."

But Caitlin really wanted to take the post train. She made such a fuss that the yard foreman had to come over and put a stop to the noise. In the end, Caitlin got her wish and she was given the post train instead of Bear.

"Oh well, it'll give me a chance to have some rest before I have to take the Limited tomorrow," he said. Then he spoke to Caitlin, "remember to keep the noise down Caitlin, we wouldn't want people waking up in the middle of the night because of the noise."

"No problem Bear, I can be quiet."

Saying it is one thing, but doing it is another matter all together. Caitlin thundered along the main line with the post train, and wouldn't you know it, she forgot her promise and whistled loud and long into the night. This woke up several residants, who phoned the Fat Controller's office to complain.

When she got back to the sheds, her crew were tired, but she still wanted to do more. She asked the other engines, who had been sleeping before, on what else she could do.

"Don't you streamliners ever stop?" grumbled Gordon.

"I often ask myself that same question," muttered Caitlin's Driver.

Henry opened his eyes with a solution to their problem, "if you're still full of steam Caitlin, why don't you take the Flying Kipper from the docks and take it to where it needs to go?"

"I don't say this often, but Henry, you are brilliant," smiled Gordon.

Cailtin agreed and asked her crew if she could take the train. Knowing they would lose, they agreed. Henry was about to give Caitlin the same warning she had been given earlier, but she took off before he could say anything.

"This ain't going to end well," muttered Barry before letting out a big yawn.

The fish were almost loaded into the vans when Caitlin arrived. She shouted at the workmen to hurry up. They did so, but they grumbled and complained about it. At last, the job was done and Caitlin was given the all clear. She thundered out of the docks and onto the main line.

If there was any hope on Caitlin being quiet, it was wishful thinking. Like before, Caitlin made too much noise and woke up more residants of Sodor. Still, she got the fish delivered to all the destinations safely and earlier than expected.

By the time she returned to Tidmouth, she was tired.

"Oh I could use some rest now," she yawned.

The Driver and fireman agreed, "wake me up two days from now," muttered the Driver.

As they got to the sheds, Caitlin could see the Fat Controller talking firmly to Henry and Bear, "I don't know what you two were thinking, but together you have caught everyone on Sodor awake, I've been recieving none stop phone calls all night."

Caitlin suddenly realised that she had been _too_ loud, and now Henry and Bear were being blamed for it.

"But Sir, I wasn't in steam, so I couldn't take the Flying Kipper," said Henry.

"Yes," added Bear, "and the yard foreman gave my job to another engine."

"And who was this other engine?"

"It was me Sir," Caitlin called out.

All eyes peered towards her. The Fat Controller walked up towards her, "I should've known it was you. My engines know when to be quiet at night, only young inexperienced engines need to be taught that lesson."

"Yes sir, I understand now Sir, but I was just so excited to be on Sodor for the night, I just wanted to be really useful."

"Well I appearcite your efforts Caitlin, but waking people up in the middle of the night isn't helpful for a railway. Not to mention insulting those who are not as fast as you, you can hurt feelings doing that. There were lots of complaints, and I don't like that at all."

"Yes Sir, I'm sorry Sir."

"Well Caitlin, you were humble enough to admit your mistakes, so I'll let you off with a warning this time. Now get some rest, then you and your crew can go home. I'll speak with your controller and have Gordon take over your duties."

"Thank you Sir."

So Caitlin was parked inside the sheds and her crew went off to a hotel to get some rest.

Sadly, Caitlin wasn't able to sleep. Engines came and went pulling trains, or shunting trucks and coaches in the yards. So as you can imagine, when it came time to go home, Caitlin was worn out. Staying up all night, she decided, hadn't been such a good idea after all.


	4. Victor Blunders Up

_**Victor Blunders Up**_

 _ **Based on "Trouble in the Steamworks!" (2013)**_

September is usually a busy time on Sodor as more passenger & goods trains are added to meet the increased demand. The Steamworks at Crovan's Gate is also busy at this time of year as engines comes in to be repaired if needed and sent back to work. Normally, everything goes like clockwork, but the 25th of September 2013 would be different.

Skarloey was just one of the engines in the Steamworks. His brakes had been failing and he had to be brought in by Rusty.

Victor came over with new brakes on a flatbed, "don't worry Skarloey, we'll soon have you working in no time," he smiled.

"Thank you Victor," he smiled. "At least now I won't have to worry about running away like Thomas did."

"Oh don't remind me!" called another voice. In a different part of the Steamworks, Thomas was being inspected. He blushed in embarrassement, he did not like being reminded of the time his brakes were faulty and he ran away.

The Steamworks crew soon had Skarloey's old brakes removed and were just about to put blocks under his wheels when they heard: "Look Out!" They jumped out of the way as Kevin, with brakes screeching, bumped into Skarloey.

"Oof! What was that?!" he cried.

The little old engine rolled along the rails and soon fell into the sidetable well. He wasn't hurt, but he was shocked.

"Kevin!" cried Victor. "You need to be more careful, now we'll have to make more repairs to Skarloey."

"Sorry boss, but something made me slip."

Kevin's operator jumped out to find out how it happened. The problem wasn't hard to find.

"There's oil on your wheels, we must've passed a leaking barrel. Never mind, we'll cover your wheels with sand and then we'll get Skarloey out of the pit."

Edna, the niece of Edward's Driver and fireman, found the leaking barrel. She and several other workers drained the barrel and cleaned up the mess. Once Kevin had sand on his wheels, he lifted Skarloey out of the pit and back to where he was.

"Thank you Kevin, that feels much better," he sighed happily.

Victor wasn't happy. Not only were Skarloey's brakes in need of replacing, but so were his buffers. They had been bent out of shape. Very wisely, Kevin left to do another job.

"Still clumsy, like always," sighed Victor.

Work continued on as normal, until the afternoon. Kevin was heading to get another crate of supplies when suddenly, Billy the Orange tank engine appeared and coming in too fast. Kevin swerved to avoid him, but in doing so, he lost control and his hook smacked into Thomas' tank.

"Ouch!" cried Thomas.

Victor came over and inspected the damage, "oh no, now that's more work for us. Kevin, I told you to be careful!"

"Uh it was my fault," called Billy. "I was coming in too fast. I was promised to be repainted and I got too excited for my own good."

Thomas rolled his eyes, "well your excitment has just put a dent in my sidetanks!"

"Don't worry Thomas, I'll get you a plate to fix that hole," smiled Kevin and raced away.

Billy's Driver climbed down from the cab with bad news, "that sudden stop has damaged your brakes. Looks like you'll have to stay here a little longer than expected Billy."

Billy wasn't smiling anymore and neither was Victor.

"All these mistakes is going to keep us busy all day. Sometimes I wonder how we would do without Kevin's clumsiness. Things would probably go smoothly without him."

He meant to say it to himself, but instead he said it out loud and everyone heard him, including Kevin. The little crane had been coming back with a replacement plate when Victor said those words.

"The boss doesn't want me here anymore," he groaned. "He's got a hard enough job with these repairs, and we're just making it harder for him. Maybe it would be best if we leave. I'm sure they wouldn't miss us."

The operator wasn't sure at first, but soon sighed and agreed. He drove Kevin out of the Steamworks without anyone knowing, or so they thought.

As the day wore on, the repairs were made and there were no more disasters in the works. Victor calmed down, but he didn't know that Kevin was gone.

In the evening, James came to the Steamworks. He was to take a Steam Trust special the next day and he needed to look his best.

"Important jobs need smart looking engines," he boasted.

As he entered the works, the lights suddenly went out. James and his crew couldn't see where they were going and before anyone knew it... **CRASH!** James bumped into something, knocking it and himself off the tracks.

"Ouch! What hit me?" The object turned out to be Victor and now all four of his wheels were off the tracks.

Edna rushed over with a portable torch, "Cor, what a mess."

"Sorry Victor, it was too dark to see," apologized James.

"It's alright James, accidents do happen and this wasn't your fault." Then he called out, "Kevin! We need you to help us!"

But there was no reply, not even a toot.

"Kevin! This is an emergency!" Victor called again, "please help us!" But still got no reply.

"He's not here anymore Victor," said Edna. "He heard what you said about not being helpful and he left, rather hurt I must say."

Victor felt awful, "I didn't mean it, I was just so cross that I wasn't thinking properly. But we do need him."

"Even we could find him, how can we get him here?" James asked. "We're both derailed and there are no other engines here to help."

Edna smiled, "lucky for you I know where Kevin went, I'll go get him for you."

And she left, leaving the two engines in their predicament.

Kevin was outside the Steamworks, hidden by several lines of trucks. His operator had agreed to stay with him to keep him company. Edna ran up to him.

"Kevin, we need your help, there's been an accident in the Steamworks."

His operator jumped into the cab and tried to turn on the engine, but Kevin wouldn't start.

"You don't need me, I'm sure _Victor_ can handle it," he sighed unhappily.

Edna was surprised, Kevin never called Victor by his actual name, just 'boss'. "Well not this time," she said. "James bumped into him and knocked both of them off the tracks. They need you Kevin, Victor said so."

"He said so?"

Edna nodded. Then like magic, Kevin's engine roared into life and hurried in the Workshops.

He didn't say anything, but he worked hard and soon the two engines were back on the tracks, none the worst for their misadventure.

"Thank you my friend," Victor smiled to Kevin, "and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those words, we were just so busy that I lost my temper. I'll do better not to do that again. After all, what would our Steamworks do without it's useful and reliable crane?"

Kevin smiled, he was pleased that Victor wasn't cross with him anymore.

"Apology accepted boss."

Suddenly, the lights came back on. The damage on James could now be seen as his buffers were dented and his coupling was bent out of shape.

"I can't look like this for the Steam Trust tomorrow," James groaned.

"Don't worry my friend, we'll soon have you fixed and polished in no time," Victor then turned to Kevin, "Could you grab those supplies for me Kevin?"

"Yes boss, it would be my pleasure."

And Kevin raced off, proud to be working alongside Victor and the crew once more.


	5. The New Scruff

_**The New Scruff**_

 _ **Based on "Scruff's Makeover" (2013)**_

Scruff is a little tank engine that works alongside Whiff at the Sodor Waste Dump. Whenever trucks are brought in, Scruff and Whiff work together to shunt them around the yards until they are in place, ready to be unloaded. Sometimes though, no engine is available to bring the trucks to the dump, so one of the two engines goes off to collect the trucks themselves.

One day, it was busier than ever, but the engines didn't mind at all, they loved every moment of it.

"There's more trucks at Tidmouth sheds and Knapford yards," said the manager. "Can one of you two go pick those trucks up?"

"Not a problem sir," said Scruff, "I'm on my way."

"Hurry back though Scruff," called Whiff, "I can't handle all these trucks alone."

"Hey, with me around, you never have to work alone Whiff," and with a toot of his whistle, Scruff puffed off.

Since his arrival in 2010, Scruff has been worked none stop at the dump. He doesn't even stop for a washdown. He doesn't mind it, though some of the other engines can't understand how he could stand it.

"Och, tis a horrible smell," grumbled Donald. "I never complain aboot another engine's job, but fer Scruff, I might make an exception."

"And look at his paintwork," added James, "rusting away and travelling with rubbish all over him. If I had to do that job, I'd run to my shed and hide."

"I hate to be messy like that," said Henry, cringing his nose.

"I doesn't bother me," chuckled Scruff. "I've gotten used to it over the years, plus work is work."

He was soon coupled up to his trucks and he puffed away. The Engines were glad he was gone.

Scruff puffed along the line until he reached the yards at Knapford. He got coupled up to the trucks and was about to puff away when he saw the Fat Controller walk up to him.

"Scruff, your paint is pealing and you're rusting. When was the last time you took a washdown?"

"Hmm, let's see...I think it was before I came here."

The Fat Controller shook his head, "you can't go puffing around like that, you'll soon break down and then you'll be no help to Whiff at all. I think it's time you went to the works and got patched up and repainted."

"Repainted?" Scruff was horrified. He didn't even like being washed, he was sure he wasn't going to like being repainted.

"But what of the trucks sir?" Scruff's Driver asked. "And Whiff, he needs our help. The dump is busier than ever today."

"I'm aware of that," said the Fat Controller. "You and Scruff can take the trucks to the dump, then go to the Steamworks. They won't take too long and you'll be back at the dump before you know it."

Scruff wasn't happy, "repatched. Repainted. Ohh, I don't like the sounds of that."

After dropping off the trucks, Scruff went to the Steamworks where the workmen were waiting for him. Victor seemed happy to see Scruff, "it's been a while my friend, I hear you're to be repainted."

"Couldn't you just patch me up so I can go back to the dump quickly?"

"Sorry, but it's the Fat Controller's orders, not mine."

Scruff had to admit defeat and let the workmen do what they had to do. They took off his paint, removed the rubbish off of him, patched him up and repainted him. He didn't like it one bit and he felt odd when it was all done.

"I don't feel like myself," he grumbled.

"Perhaps, but you do look splendid," commented Victor. "Truely a masterpiece now."

Scruff didn't know what he was talking about. Even his crew commented on his new look. The Driver then grabbed a mirror and showed Scruff of what he looked like.

"Is that really me?"

"It certainly is," answered Victor. "What do you think of it Scruff?"

"I...I...I like it, I look like a brand new engine."

"Well that's the whole point my friend," chuckled Victor. "But if you like it, we like it too."

Scruff was fired up and taken out of the Steamworks, smiling the entire time, "look out Sodor, a new Scruff is on the way!" he cheered and whistled his thank yous to the workmen.

All along the way to the dump, Scruff passed other engines and they were pleased with his new look too. James even said; "you're almost as splendid as me now."

At the dump, Whiff was working as hard as he could and was relieved when he saw Scruff.

"Thank goodness you're back Scruff, there are plenty of trucks that need shunting. Could you move them please?"

Now Scruff normally doesn't mind, but this time, he did mind. He liked his new look and was worried doing the shunting work would get him messy. Then he noticed a line of empty trucks.

"Where are those trucks suppose to go?"

"To Wellsworth, Edward will come by later," answered Whiff. "You don't need to worry about them and worry about these ones."

"I...I rather not," he replied. Whiff stopped and looked shocked, "I don't want my new paintwork to get ruined by smelly old rubbish. I'll take the empty trucks for Edward, maybe I can find a cleaner job."

"Scruff, are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, I'm feeling alright, better than alright. I'm like a new engine and I don't want to get dirty."

"Oh I see. Well then, I guess you could take the empty trucks."

So Scruff was coupled up to the empty trucks and puffed off to Wellsworth station, leaving Whiff alone with all the work that had to be done.

At Wellsworth, Scruff shunted the trucks into place and then went to the station. He asked the Stationmaster if he could help with any jobs in the yards.

"At this time, we don't have any jobs here," he answered. "Besides you have your own job at the waste dump."

"I can't work there anymore, I'm a new Scruff and I can't get dirty."

"Well I'm sorry, but we don't have anything for you to do."

Just then, Gordon passed with the express. Moments later, a bell rang, meaning that Gordon needed a banker. Scruff offered to help and set off to help Gordon.

Gordon was surprised to see Scruff and upon starting again, he was surprised when Scruff asked if he could help with the express.

"Don't be foolish Scruff, you can't pull the express, you're far too small to help and too weak as well. The express requires a big strong engine like me to pull it."

When they reached the top, Gordon whistled his thank you and puffed off. Scruff was disappointed. So disappointed that he didn't even notice Whiff puffing past to collect more rubbish trucks.

Scruff went back to Wellsworth. By that time, Edward was there. Scruff asked him if he could help the old engine.

"Sorry Scruff, but I don't need help today," Edward answered kindly. "Anyways, your job is at the waste dump."

"But I'm shiny and clean now," pouted Scruff, "I don't want to get dirty."

"It's true you are shiny and clean now Scruff, but if you don't do your job, you can't be useful to the railway anymore," Edward said wisely. "Besides, think of Whiff, he'll be worked to the axles without your help."

Scruff looked down to the ballast and realised Edward was right. After all, it was because Whiff was overworked that Scruff came to Sodor and thought about how busy it has gotten over the last few years.

"Well, it is still dirty work, but I guess I should help."

Just then, the Stationmaster ran up, "Whiff needs help up the hill, he's got a heavy train of rubbish trucks that needs pushing."

"I think Scruff can handle that job sir," said Edward.

Scruff agreed and puffed off.

He soon found his friend, panting heavily while the trucks giggled in their silly way, "These trucks are either getting heavier, or I'm just getting too old for this job."

Scruff soon appeared at the top of the hill and slowly passed Whiff, "give me a minute Whiff and I'll help you up the hill."

"No Scruff, you'll get your paintwork ruined. You don't like to get dirty anymore, remember?"

"Yes I do remember. But don't worry, I'll be careful."

But the trucks had other ideas. Scruff was soon coupled up and pushed with all his might. They were halfway up the hill when the trucks started acting up, they biffed and bashed and a huge bag of rubbish flew out and headed for Scruff.

"Uh oh."

Scruff shut his eyes as the bag burst open and rubbish fell everywhere.

"Oh no Scruff, your beautiful paintwork," Whiff was worried for his friend.

Scruff took one look at himself and his old smile returned, "don't worry Whiff, it's all part of the job. Now brace yourself, I'm going to give these little buggers a piece of my mind." And with that, he bumped them hard, making them go 'oh, oh, oh!'

After getting over the hills, the crews went back to get the remaining rubbish on the hill, then they set off once more.

Edward smiled when he saw them working together again. James cringed his nose as he waited with the stopping passenger train, "You're no longer splendid," he called to Scruff. "You look horrible."

"Why thank you," smiled Scruff.

"So, does this mean you're going to help me at the dump again?" Whiff asked.

"Of course I will, it's my job after all," smiled Scruff. "Besides, I rather be a really useful engine than a really shiny and useless engine."

"Truer words were never spoken," smiled Edward as he watched the two friends head off back to their job at the dump.


	6. Dashing Through the Snow

_**Dashing Through the Snow**_

 _ **Based on "Santa's Little Engine" (2013)**_

At Ulfstead Castle, Sir Robert Norramby was holding a Christmas festival. It was a big event, so big that Edward had to be called away from his branch line to help bring passengers from the junction and points along the line to the castle. He didn't mind it though, he loved seeing the happy faces on the passenger's faces, especially when they reached the Castle.

Each time they arrived at the castle, The Earl greeted them cheerfully, "welcome everyone to the Ulfstead Christmas Festival. Mind your step and enjoy your day!"

The passengers were just getting out of Edward's coaches when the Fat Controller arrived in his blue car.

"Hello Sir Topham, I'm glad to see you!"

"Glad to be here Sir Robert," smiled the Fat Controller. "You said over the phone that you needed help."

"That I do Topham, I need someone to play the role of Father Christmas for the final day of the festival, and I was wondering, would you like to play the role?"

"Of course I would, I once filled in for the real Father Christmas." He cleared his throat and gave his best; "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

"Superb," smiled the Earl. "The visitors will love that. Now we just need to get a sleigh, then everything will be ready."

"A sleigh?" The Fat Controller raised an eyebrow when he heard that. "Are you sure that's safe? Maybe I should come in on Winston. I could always have someone dress him up to look like a sleigh."

"Sorry Topham, but a real sleigh would be perfect for that day. Don't you worry though, I'll get one, I've got a few friends who have one."

"Oh joy," groaned the Fat Controller.

"Trust me Topham, I'll have everything sorted out in no time," then he left to attend to the visitors.

But the lack of real sleighs wasn't the Fat Controller's concern. He was worried about _riding_ in it. Once before, when he was very young, the Fat Controller rode on a sleigh with his family, but the ride ended badly when the driver took too tight of a turn and toppled it over. No one had been hurt, but the Fat Controller had developed a fear of sleighs ever since.

He worried about it all the way to his office. Then he remembered his original suggestion, "maybe if Winston looked like a sleigh, then Sir Robert will change his mind."

Later on that day, the Fat Controller drove Winston to the Steamworks. He asked the workers to make him look like a sleigh. Confused, the workers did as they were asked.

"This has got to be one of the strangest things we've ever done," said Maggie.

"Indeed it is," agreed Edna, "and we've been asked to fix strange mishaps before."

Winston groaned as parts and pieces were put on him. He wasn't feeling like himself anymore.

Hours later, they were finished. The Fat Controller looked pleased, "thank you everyone, Winston looks fantastic. I have to show him to the Earl of Sodor."

"Well uh, glad you like the work done sir," said Victor.

No one else thought Winston looked grand and neither did Winston. When he saw himself in a mirror in the workshop, he felt silly.

Back at Ulfstead, Edward was puffing out with the empty coaches when he saw Winston coming in. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Is that really you Winston?" Edward asked.

"I think it is, but I don't feel like myself," groaned the Track Inspection Car. "I just feel silly."

Edward didn't laugh at Winston, but his crew were having trouble trying to hold back. The Fat Controller walked into the castle, then returned with the Earl.

"What do you think Sir Robert? I think the workers did a great job on Winston, he'd be perfect as a sleigh."

The Earl took one look at Winston, then he laughed, long and loud.

"Oh Topham, this won't do at all," he said. "No offence Winston, but no one would believe you are the real Santa's sleigh. I'll give the workers credit for their efforts, but my mind is made up, I will get a real sleigh for you Topham."

Winston sighed happily, but the Fat Controller was still worried.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Oh yes I'm sure, you got nothing to worry about," smiled the Earl. He turned and went back into the castle to check on the guests.

Edward could see the worried look on the Fat Controller's face, he was concerned about him. But he did give to wink at Winston, at least now he wouldn't need to look like a sleigh anymore.

By nightfall, Winston looked like himself again. But the Fat Controller was wishing he was the sleigh of choice. As he sat near his fireplace, he kept replaying the memory of when the sleigh tipped over and he fell into the snow.

"Oh why did I say I would do this?" he groaned.

"Topham, aren't you going to get some rest?" asked his wife. "You got a busy day tomorrow."

"Yes Jane, I'm going to bed."

But he didn't sleep a wink. He kept worrying about his job to come.

Finally the day arrived. The Fat Controller drove worrying to the castle. The Earl was pleased to see him and presented him with a Father Christmas suit.

"Now we just need the sleigh and the day will be perfect."

"I hope so," groaned the Fat Controller.

Edward was on his way up with the sleigh on a flatbed. He was thinking about the Fat Controller's behaviour, "he acts as though he's scared," he said to his crew. "But there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Perhaps Edward," said his Driver. "But then again, people have been known to be scared of things most people take for granted."

"Maybe it has something to do with his past," added the fireman.

"I suppose...whoa!" cried Edward as he slipped on the rails. The tracks were icy on this day, so Edward had to take great care puffing up the hill. It was difficult, but he soon managed it and reached the top.

"Ah Edward, I'm glad you're here, the festival is almost done," said the Earl. "And we really need that sleigh."

Just then, Millie puffed up with the Fat Controller, all dressed up, riding in one of her coaches. He was still worried and when he saw the sleigh being unloaded, he grew more worried.

"Isn't it beautiful Topham? They sure don't make sleighs like this anymore."

"Indeed not. Uh, wouldn't it better though if I walked into the castle grounds instead?"

"Sorry Topham, but it's important to have Father Christmas come in on his sleigh. Now you make yourself comfortable while I go collect the reindeer."

The Fat Controller climbed in and sat down on the seat.

"Hmm, it sure is comfortable," he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Edward was backing into a siding out of the way. But what no one had noticed until too late was that the handles for the reindeer were sticking out on the line.

"Stop Edward, Stop!" cried a workman.

Edward's Driver applied the brakes, but Edward slipped on the rails and hit the handles hard. The sleigh started moving backwards and down the hill.

"Oi Topham! Where are you going?!" cried the Earl.

Edward quickly reversed down the tracks and chased after the runaway sleigh. Somehow, the Fat Controller's sleigh had landed on the rails, and now he was sliding on them.

"We must catch him! We must catch him!" puffed Edward. "Don't worry Sir, we're coming for you!"

The Fat Controller was in too much shock to reply. He slid down the hill at great speeds. Edward raced after him, but the Driver had to apply the brakes at times to prevent a derailment. Worst was to come, the sleigh went down the line to Ulfstead Mine.

"Edward! Help!" cried the Fat Controller.

The sleigh ran over the new hill of stone and earth and dashed into the old mine. Edward bashed threw branches and bushes and puffed into the mine itself.

"Steady Edward, steady!" cautioned his Driver.

The fireman kept a look out to make sure they didn't run into the sleigh.

"He's just up ahead and he's slowing down," he cried.

Meanwhile up ahead, the Earl was calling to the Fat Controller, but got no reply.

"Sorry Sir," said a workman. "We should've checked to make sure the sleigh was clear of the tracks."

"Don't worry about it, let's just hope Edward can catch up with him."

Finally, the sleigh stopped inside the mine, allowing Edward to catch up. The crew went to check on the Fat Controller, "he looks like he's seen a ghost," commented the fireman.

"Don't worry sir, we'll get you out of here," said the Driver.

He and the fireman helped him into the cab, then they worked together to put the sleigh back on the flatbed. Once fastened down, Edward puffed out of the mine. He still had branches just above his smokebox, it almost made him look like a reindeer.

Edward puffed slowly up the hill and soon reached the yards.

"Topham, are you alright?" the Earl asked.

"Yes I fine," he answered. "Though that incident is going to put me off sleighs for a long time. Well that and the other incident."

"What other incident?" The Fat Controller explained about his accident years ago. When he finished, the Earl looked shamefully down to the ground, "I'm sorry Topham, I should have asked if you had a fear of sleighs. But it's a good thing you had Edward helping you."

"Yes indeed."

"Though..." the Earl paused and walked up to the front of Edward. "I think he needs one more thing before he becomes the perfect reindeer."

"Reindeer?" Edward was puzzled, that was until he saw the branches. "I must've collected those on the way down."

"Well they look great on you Edward. However," he reached into his jacket, pulled out an old red rubber ball and placed it on the end of Edward's nose, "this will make you look pefect for the part."

The Fat Controller climbed down from the cab and smiled, "well I'll be, it's Edward the Red Nosed Engine."

"Oh dear, I wonder what James is going to say when he hears this," chuckled Edward.

A few minutes later, Edward puffed in with the sleigh on the flatbed. The Fat Controller waved happily to all the visitors and handed out gifts bought by the Earl. One child even recieved a book about James when he had a red nose. Everyone enjoyed seeing the Fat Controller as Father Christmas and really enjoyed seeing Edward looking like a reindeer.

When the festival was done, the Fat Controller helped to take all the branches off of Edward.

"I will admit that after today, I still got a fear of sleighs," the Fat Controller said to Edward. "But I'm sure in time I'll get used to them again."

"I'm sure you will Sir."

"Still, we made lots of people happy today didn't we?"

"Indeed we did Sir. Indeed we did."


	7. Charlie & the Elephant

Hey there loyal readers, it's ThomasZoey3000 again and I'm back with a brand new adaptation. This was also a request adaptation for the 10th episode of Season 17 of Thomas & Friends. I had a little bit of trouble with it at first, but after some time, I came up with the adaptation you're about to read. There's still to come, so stay tuned.

 _ **Charlie & the Elephant**_

 _ **Based on "Not Now, Charlie!" (2013)**_

Should you ever visit the big engine sheds at night, then you might hear banters going on between the big main line engines; Gordon, Henry and James. Sometimes James is teased about the time he needed a bootlace, other times Gordon is teased about how he let his boiler run dry and other times, it's Henry who gets teased. Moments of teasing include stopping in the tunnel, crashing with the Flying Kipper and other times, it's the elephant incident.

When they first heard about it, Gordon and James felt sorry for Henry, but now they found the situation funny.

"He goes into the tunnel and stops when he bumps into the elephant," joked James, "then instead of standing firm, he allows that elephant to push him out."

Most of the engines laughed, except for Barry, Belle and Bear, they never laughed at other engine's past moments.

"And here comes the funny part," added Gordon, "Henry whoosed steam, making the elephant jump and squirt water all over him."

The engines laughed and laughed, then Charlie added salt to the open wound, "maybe the elephant saw how dirty Henry was and decided to give him a bath." Gordon and James at first tried to hide their own laughter, but soon couldn't stop themselves. Henry snorted crossly at Charlie.

"That's enough you lot, we don't need an argument breaking out at this time at night," Bear said firmly.

"Bear's right," agreed Belle. "I got a passenger train to take tomorrow morning, so please be quiet!"

But Charlie didn't want to be quiet, he liked hearing the laughter from the other engines, "well Henry, if you're too scared, you could use a _jumbo_ jet to get to where you want to go." And he burst into laughter, as did many of the engines.

"Pah!" snorted Henry. He didn't like Charlie's jokes one bit and wished he still had steam so he could leave the sheds. Finally though, Barry and Bear were able to settle everything down before the situation got worse. Henry however was still cross with Charlie, and went to sleep, wondering how he could pay Charlie out.

The next afternoon, Charlie was out on the main line with a train of trucks for Wellsworth. Molly was originally suppose to collect the trucks from the big staiton, but she had been called away on other duties, and since Charlie was the only engine available, he was asked to take the trucks. He was doing well, he had green signals and the sun was shining brightly above him. Nothing could go wrong. That was until...

"PEEP! PEEP! Stop! Stop!" he shouted.

His Driver heard and applied the brakes. Charlie slowed down and came to a stop. The Driver was about to ask why they had to stop, when he and the fireman saw it. Just ahead of them and taking leaves off the trees as a snack was a large elephant.

"Cor blimey, where did that thing come from?" asked the Driver.

"You got me," said the fireman, "I don't remember hearing anything about the circus coming to Sodor. Either way, that elephant's got to move, otherwise it's going to get hurt."

Charlie agreed with that. The Driver pulled on the whistle chain, and Charlie whistled loud and long, but the elephant didn't move.

"Hey Mindy, give that elephant your sandwiches, maybe that will get it to move away from the tracks."

"What?" exclaimed the fireman. "Are you kidding me? My husband made this just for me, I'm not giving it to an elephant."

The Driver slapped his forehead and Charlie groaned. In the end, the fireman gave up, and holding her sandwich out, she lead the elephant away from the tracks and over to a safe spot.

"We can't hold up the line forever," said the Driver when the fireman returned, "we'll continue on to Wellsworth and warn the Stationmaster that the line is blocked."

They started again, but Charlie couldn't help but worry, what if the elephant decided to move back to the trees next to the line? With that thought in his mind, Charlie hurried as fast as he could to Wellsworth.

At the station, he found Henry waiting with a stopping passenger train, "oh thank goodness, Henry I have to something to say."

"Ohh, what is it?" grumbled Henry. He was in no mood to talk with Charlie after being teased by the tank engine last night.

"Watch your puff as you go down the line, there's an elephant by the lineside. My crew managed to get it to move away from the trees close to the tracks, but I feel it might move again."

"Oh my, that does sound serious," said the Stationmaster.

Henry snorted, "pay no attention to Charlie, he's only trying to tell jokes again." He then shouted angerily to Charlie, "give up your silly jokes Charlie and get back to work."

"But Henry..."

The guard's whistle blew and Henry puffed away, grumbling under his breath. Charlie warned him again and again, but Henry payed no attention. To make the situation even more frustating to Charlie, the Stationmaster believed Henry and ignored Charlie's warning.

"But I'm not joking, all three of us saw it," Charlie protested.

"I'm not interested in jokes right now Charlie," said the Stationmaster. "Now take those trucks down to Brendam, then you go back to the Big Station."

Charlie again tried to warn the Stationmaster, but he just slammed the door and would hear nothing more.

"Oh dear," groaned Charlie. "Now that elephant's really going to be in trouble. I just wish everyone would listen to what I'm telling them."

"Well it's hard for them to listen to you when they think you're going to be telling another joke," said the Driver. "Let's face it Charlie, half the time, you're always telling jokes."

Charlie knew his Driver was right, but there was nothing he could do now. He whistled and puffed sadly over to the branch line.

As he puffed along, he and his crew passed the animal park near Suddery Station. Charlie noticed something, a large tree had smashed threw a stone wall, which was one of the walls surronding the elephant pan.

"Well at least we know where the elephant came from," said the Driver.

Charlie wanted to tell them he had seen the elephant, but he couldn't stop as he was a few minutes late, so he continued on to the docks.

At the docks, he shunted his trucks into place and went to get a brake van. Before leaving, he had to take on more water. As he was filling up, the dock manager came over to see him.

"I just recieved a call, Henry is stuck on the main line due to an elephant, and you've been asked to take the Zoo Keepers and one of their special trucks to bring the elephant back to the park."

"Yes Sir, of course Sir," replied Charlie.

Once filled up, he puffed back to the park at Suddery. He collected one of their trucks, then puffed down the main line to where Henry could be seen. Passengers were yelling at the elephant to move, but it wouldn't move, it wanted the yummy leaves on the trees.

"I can't believe this," Henry grumbled, "held up by an elephant. Gordon and James will never let me hear the end of this!"

Charlie then arrived, "tt's only a joke huh?" he asked with a firm eyebrow raised. Henry said nothing.

The park keepers walked slowly up to the elephant with watermellons, or as they called them; 'elephant grapes'. The elephant wanted the watermellons and followed them to Charlie's truck. Slowly, it walked up until it was on board.

"That's it Charlie, we got her!" cried one of the park keepers.

The elephant blew it's trumpet loudly and one of the keepers gave it the watermellon. They closed the door and once all was ready, Charlie set off. Henry left shortly afterwords, not saying a word.

The elephant was soon back at the park and the keepers thanked Charlie and his crew for their help.

"Still, an elephant that big couldn't have gone unnoticed," said one of the keepers, "Surely someone would've seen it."

"We did see it," said Charlie, "but when I warned everyone about the elephant, they wouldn't believe me."

When Charlie next saw the stationmaster at Wellsworth, he apologized to the purple tank engine for not taking his warning seriously.

That evening, Henry puffed into the sheds and parked himself next to Charlie, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to your warning earlier Charlie, I thought you were just trying to tease me."

"It's alright Henry, I shouldn't have teased you last night. If I hadn't done that, then you wouldn't have been cross with me."

"Yes, but it was my fault for not listening to you. A warning is a warning, no matter which engine is telling it."

Charlie happily agreed and he promised not to tell jokes again in future. However, that promise didn't last for too long, "oh hey Henry, I got another joke, want to hear it?"

Henry rolled his eyes, "Alright tell me," he sighed, and Charlie was back to telling jokes again. Some things never change.


	8. The Ghosts of Ulfstead Castle

Since Halloween is fast approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you this Halloween adaptation I wrote up last year. Originally it was in a different folder, but now with some minor editing, it is here in this folder. Also, after this story is my adaptation of 'The Thomas Way' with Belle in Oliver's place at Tidmouth Station and with some minor editing done to the rest of the story. After these ones, make sure you keep your eyes open as I am currently working on two more Season 17 adaptations. They will be based on "Too Many Fire Engines" and "The Smelly Kipper".

 _ **The Ghosts of Ulfstead Castle**_

 _ **Based on "The Phantom Express" (2013)**_

One evening, Percy was waiting at the junction for the main line post train to arrive. Fog was starting to roll in, but this didn't bother Percy in the slightest, he was looking forward to his run that evening. One of his stops was at the newly restored Ulfstead Castle.

It was calm and peaceful at the junction, that was until James came into view with a long line of coal trucks.

"Good evening James," Percy called over to him.

"And what's so good about it?" James grumbled. "I've spent all day shunting trucks and now I have to take them around the Island. It's not fair I tell you."

"It's fair enough for you red monster," giggled a truck and the others burst into laughter. James glared crossly back at them.

"Well the evening is good for me cause I'm going to make a delivery to Ulfstead Castle."

"Really? Well you better watch out cause you might have a run in with the Phantom Express."

"Phantom Express? What is that?"

"It's a ghost train Percy. Long ago, during the days of the Sodor & Midland railway, an engine was trying to keep to time when suddenly, it felt itself swerve off the main line and onto your line. At first, the engine and it's crew thought nothing of it, that was until they neared Ulfstead. They found themselves sliding out of control down the hill and to their horror, found a stone building just ahead of them."

James paused for a dramatic effect, by which point, Henry arrived with the main line post train.

"They tried to brake," James continued. "But the weight of the coaches pushed onwards and into the stone building, which collapsed on top of them. The crew and passengers were lucky to survive, but the engine was completly destoryed. They say that even to this day, the Phantom Express still roams the town of Ulfstead, forever haunting it and letting it's pressence known by blowing it's ghostly whistle and rattling the rails."

Percy didn't look so cheerful now, he looked terrified.

"Stuff and nonsense James, there's no such thing as a Phantom Express," said Henry.

James smirked, "oh but there is and most recently, I've heard he's gone to Ulfstead Castle to haunt it too. So be on your guard Percy."

The parcels, letters and boxes were soon loaded into Percy's vans and once the guard blew his whistle, Percy steamed away.

"Why did you do that James?" Henry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh it's just for a little bit of fun," James chuckled. The story he told was true, but the parts of the sightings were not, but James didn't dare say that. He was looking forward to seeing Percy race back in fear.

"You got a weird sense of fun."

Percy puffed along the branch line, delivering the post to all the stations along the route. He really started to get scared though as he neared the town of Ulfstead.

"I hope we don't see the Phantom Express tonight," he said to his crew.

His crew didn't believe James' story, but they tried to calm Percy down as much as they could. Finally, they reached the castle grounds. A red signal told them to stop, so Percy had to wait for the drawbridge to be lowered. He looked nervously around him, growing more and more scared by the second. When the bridge was down, the signal changed to green and Percy puffed inside.

Percy's Driver and fireman helped the Castle staff to unload the parcels, but Percy wished they would work a little faster. Just then, he heard some puffing noises coming from one of the tunnels and a bright beam of light could be seen. Percy shivered in fear as it got closer and closer to him. Finally, it came out of the tunnel, revealing that the object was none other than...

"Hullo Percy, it's good to see you again." It was Stephen the Rocket engine.

"Oh hello Stephen, am I ever glad to see you and not the Phantom Express."

"Phantom Express? What on Earth is that?" Percy told Stephen all James had told him back at the junction. When he had finished, Stephen laughed, "oh I think that James was only pulling your wheels again Percy, there's no such thing as a Phantom Express."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well throughout the time I've been here, I would've heard or seen it. And I know Millie hasn't seen it either, otherwise she would've told me."

Percy sighed in relief, then, "oh just wait till I see that James, I'll give him something to be scared about."

He wouldn't have long to wait as James pulled in with grumbling coal trucks. He was still smirking, "have you seen the Ghost train yet Percy?" he teased.

"Ha! I don't believe in your ghost story James, there is no Phantom Express here and Stephen should know since he works here."

The smirk turned into a frown, but James still wanted to see a scared Percy, so he made up another story.

"But there is a Phantom Express, he's coming towards the castle right now. I saw him with my own two eyes."

"Really? Were the rails rattling?" Stephen chuckled, "ho ho, we don't believe you James, now please stop trying to scare everyone and get back to work."

"Fine," grumbled James.

He took the trucks to where they were needed, then he puffed out of the castle. As he puffed along though, he spotted some pipes and this gave him another idea.

"Driver, I think I have a steam leak," he fibbed.

The Driver stopped him and climbed out of the cab, "oh great, that's all we needed tonight."

He inspected James over while his engine smirked. He had stopped next to the pipes and he could hear an engine coming.

"Perfect, now I'll give them a good scare."

The engine puffing out wasn't Stephen or Percy, it was Millie. She was shunting trucks to another siding. James couldn't see her properly and thought it was Percy. Very loudly, he shouted, "woo...wooo," which echoed through the pipes until it reached Millie.

"What was that?" she exclaimed.

"I'm not sure," answered her Driver, "but it almost sounds like a..."

"Ghost!" cried Millie.

She was so startled that she charged backwards, bumping her crew out of the cab. Millie puffed on backwards, not noticing that the drawbridge was up and the signal was red. She puffed past it and fell, bunker first into the moult. Her trucks had not been coupled up, so they didn't follow her and thankfully, she stayed upright, but now she was stuck.

"Well that wasn't very clever now was it?" Millie groaned.

James had no idea that Millie crashed, he thought the engine ran away. When his Driver asked him about the noise he made, James said he was merely getting rid of a tickle.

"James is acting kind of odd today, don't you think Gilbert?" he asked the fireman.

"Indeed he is, it's almost like he's trying to play ghosts."

A few minutes later, the drawbridge came back down and Stephen puffed out to find Millie's trucks, but with no Millie.

"Millie, where are you?" Stephen called out.

"I'm down here!" cried a voice.

Stephen's fireman jumped out and looked down, "well blow me down, she is down there!" he cried. The Driver climbed down and was shocked. Millie's crew had already reached their engine and were now putting out her fire.

"How on Earth did you get down there?" Stephen asked.

"I got spooked and ran off in fright," and Millie told Stephen of what she had heard.

"That was no ghost, it's probably just James playing ghost." He listened very carefully, he could hear James chuckling as he was being coupled up to more trucks. "I think it's time he got a taste of his own medicine."

Stephen's Driver pulled on the whistle cord, making Stephen blow his whistle loud and long. James was startled and bumped into his trucks.

"What was that?" he asked nervously. "It couldn't really be...it can't...the Phantom Express is real?"

Stephen then let out one of the strangest whistle sounds he's ever made, which spooked James out of his wits. "It's the whistle of the Phantom Express!"

Instead of waiting to be coupled up, James took off like a jack rabbit. He raced down the hill and threw Ulfstead without stopping. Finally, just outside the town, the Driver was able to get control and stop James.

"What are you doing?" James asked nervously. "The Phantom Express is after us!"

"James, there is no such thing as the Phantom Express," his Driver pointed out. "You made up the ghost sightings part of the story to scare Percy, remember?"

James did remember, "but then, what was that at the castle?"

"I don't know old boy, I guess we'll have to go back and find out for ourselves."

James really didn't want to go back, but his trucks were still up there waiting for him, so he had no choice.

When he returned, he heard no whistling, no rattling rails or any kind of sound. It seemed quiet, too quiet.

"Maybe the Phantom Express went into hiding," said James with a shaky voice. "Let's just collect the trucks and go."

But the crew didn't want to leave, they wanted to know what made the noise. A few minutes later, Percy puffed out with empty post vans. James was relieved to see him, but before he could say a word, there came a strange puffing sound.

"It's him!" James cried. "It's the Phantom Express!"

Percy rolled his eyes, "that not a Phantom, it's only Stephen."

Sure enough, it was Stephen and he was cross. He wasn't alone as the Earl of Sodor, Sir Robert Normmanby, was riding on board. He climbed out of Stephen and called down, "Millie, are you alright?"

"Yes sir, I'm fine, I'm just stuck!"

"Don't worry, I've already phoned for Harvey, he'll have you out in no time."

James was confused. Stephen stared angerily at him, "you scared Millie instead of either Percy or myself and because she had been startled, she charged backwards and fell down there."

Now James felt sorry and foolish. The Earl spoke to him next, "after Harvey has put Millie back on the tracks, he will take you to the junction where Sir Topham will be waiting to speak with you."

It wasn't long before Harvey arrived and had Millie back on solid ground again. She was none the wrose for her misadventure and would only need a few repairs. Harvey then took James and his trucks to the junction where the Fat Controller was waiting. Needless to say, he was not too happy with James.

"I expect this kind of behaviour from Bill and Ben, but not from you James. Someone could've gotten seriously hurt tonight."

"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir," groaned James.

"For your childish trick, you will be working with trucks for a full month."

"Yes sir," sighed James.

Once the Fat Controller had left, Percy called out to James.

"Keep your eyes open James and make sure you don't run into any ghost trains."

"Oh ha ha," James grumbled sarcastically. Then he heard a whistle which made him jump, "uh maybe I should get started with my goods work." And he shot off like a rocket, he didn't want to meet the owner of that whistle. His crew thought it was another one of the North Western engines, but not too far off, two eyes watched him leave.

"Young engines, when will they learn?" Then it vanished. I can't say for sure, but it could've been the Phantom Express itself. I guess we'll never know for sure.


	9. More Than One Way To Do Things

_**More Than One Way to Do Things**_

 _ **Based on "The Thomas Way" (2013)**_

The North Western Railway has many engines running on it's tracks and many of them came from different railways in Britian.

Rosie for example came from the Southern Railway. She had been built in America to help with the war efforts, but after the war, she and other members of her class stayed on the Southern doing various jobs until being retired. Rosie had been saved by the Bluebell Railway, thinking they could use her, and they did, for a few years. However they felt she would be better off on the North Western, so in 2006, she was sent there and despite a few mishaps, she's proven herself to be a useful engine.

Montague is another engine that came from another railway. He came from the Great Western and came to Sodor in 1956 to be shunter at the big station at Knapford. He is often called Duck, because the others used to say he waddled, even though he didn't. Before coming to Sodor, he worked mostly at Paddington Station in London. Now he puffs proudly along the Little Western, doing things the Great Western Way.

Since both engines came from different railways, you can imagine they don't share the same views.

"You have to shunt your trucks carefully Rosie," Duck said one day at Knapford.

"I think I know how to handle my own trucks Duck," she said angerily. This wasn't the first time Duck commented on her shunting techniques. "I've been shunting like this for years and it's never caused a problem."

"That may not always be true, you could always damage something."

"Oh be quiet, who put you in charge anyways?"

"Nobody," he answered, just as the guard blew his whistle. "I'm just telling you, there are two ways of doing things; The Great Western Way or..."

"The Wrong way, yes I've heard it before!"

Duck puffed away with his passenger train, leaving Rosie fuming on the spot.

"That Duck, he really gets my goat. One of these days, I'll show him how to do things properly."

Rosie's Driver and fireman heard and knew that trouble would soon be around the corner.

A few days later, trouble had come to the hills outside Callen Castle. Two climbers were out exploring when one slipped and fell to a small ledge. His friend came to join him. He wasn't badly hurt, but now they were both trapped.

Luckily, Douglas and his Driver saw them and phoned the Search and Rescue Centre. Within minutes, Harold had arrived with rescuers.

"Don't worry chaps, we'll have you down in no time," he called to them.

A rescuer came out and lifted one person into Harold, then he came back for the other person. Once they were safely on board, they headed for the ground near to where Douglas was waiting.

"Thank you Harold," called one of the climbers. "We don't know what would've happened if you hadn't come along."

"Glad to be of service," replied Harold. A rescuer helped the climbers to the castle and returned to go back to the centre. Harold went to take off again, but then without warning, Harold's arms stopped turning and his engine shut off.

"Uh, I dinna think that's suppose ta happen," commented Douglas.

Harold's pilot tried to get his helicopter started up again, but it was no use.

"I think your rotar's jammed Harold," he said. "You'll have to be taken back to the Search and Rescue Centre by other modes of transportation."

"Weel look on the bright side Harold, at least ye werena in the air," said Douglas.

Harold didn't even want to thank about that.

Harold's pilot phoned the Fat Controller, who promised to send help. Before long, Harvey and Rocky arrived, followed by Rosie with a flatbed.

"Don't worry yourself Harold, I'll get you back to the centre," she smiled.

But she wasn't smiling for long when she heard a familar Great Western whistle and saw a familar tank engine come into view.

"Duck?!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help you get Harold to the Search and Rescue Centre."

"Don't you have work to do on the Little Western?"

"That's already been taken care of, Neville is doing my work until I get back. Now I'll lead and you can look out for me from the back, we wouldn't want to damage Harold along the way."

Rosie seethed with anger, she didn't want to work with Duck, but she especially didn't want to be his back engine. But orders were orders, so Rosie had no choice in the matter. Harold was soon lifted onto the flatbed and tied down, then the tank engines were coupled up and puffed away.

As they headed along the line, Rosie could hear Harold sigh.

"What's the matter Harold?"

"Oh I'm just upset, this never happened to me before. Now I can't fly and I already miss the wonderful view I usually get."

"Well then, let's cheer you up by showing you the sights from the ground," she suggested.

Harold's face lit up at once, "I say, that sounds exciting. As long as Duck agrees to the idea."

But Duck was aganist the idea, "we don't have time to do any sight seeing today, we have to get Harold back to the centre without delay. As I told you before, there are two ways of doing things; the Great..."

"Oh will you give it a rest Duck! I know the saying!"

They soon came to a bridge, Rosie checked and said it was safe, so they continued on.

"How about we take you to the animal park," Rosie suggested to Harold. "You can see alot of the animals from the ground."

"Well that would be nice, they usually look small when I see them," Harold smiled.

Again, Duck didn't like the idea, "it's not on our route."

"What about the suspension bridge, it's a great Sudrian landmark," she suggested.

"It's still not on our route, besides that's not the Great Western way of doing things."

Duck was sticking to the Great Western Way of doing things and that was that. But Rosie would not except it, she wanted Harold to have a wonderful ride, not a boring one. Then she came up with a rather sneaky idea.

"Duck, we need to stop at Tidmouth Station."

"Why?"

"Uh because...the people who are going to fix Harold are waiting there for us. I forgot to tell you this earlier."

"Well, if we need to go to Tidmouth, then we must go there directly and promptly."

Rosie smirked to herself, her plans was working.

Duck lead them down the line and soon the station came into view.

"Wow, that is a beautiful station," smiled Harold. Then he looked to his right, "And there's my friend Percy shunting. Hello Percy old chap!"

Percy looked over, "Hello whirlyb..." but then he noticed something horrifying. "Look out for the station roof!"

Rosie looked, Harold was too tall to go threw, "Duck stop!"

"What's the matter?"

"Just stop!" The two engine crews slammed on the brakes and they skidded to a stop with only inches to spare between Harold's cabin and the roof. "Harold's too tall to go into the station, and by the looks of things, he's too wide as well."

She could see Harold's floats nearly touching the platform.

Then more trouble came into view. Belle was taking a goods train and had been making good time, but when she saw Harold, her Driver slammed on the brakes and she stopped a foot away from Harold's float. Belle's crew couldn't believe what they were seeing, "we've heard of cows and sheep blocking the line, but this has got to be a first," said Belle's Driver.

"Sorry Belle, we'll back out once we get the engineers," said Duck.

"What engineers?"

"The ones who are going to fix Harold of course."

"There are no engineers here," said the Stationmaster, who came out to see what was going on. "They're waiting for you at the centre, so the Fat Controller said over the phone."

"But I was told...Rosie, care to explain?"

"Uh, opps," she said meekily.

"Sorry everyone, we'll back out now." They reversed back down the line to another set of points and once they had gone, Belle hurried off to make up for lost time.

Now it was Duck who was cross, "you've been spending too much time with Thomas, you're just as cheeky as he is," he said crossly. "I can't believe I fell for your fib, but not for a second time. This time, we are going to do things the Great Western Way and no other way."

Rosie sighed unhappily, "I'm sorry I couldn't make your ride enjoyable Harold."

"Don't worry about it Rosie, you tried and that's all that matters."

With nothing more she could do, Rosie kept a good look out towards Knapford. Up ahead, Rosie could see a single tracked tunnel, it was tall enough, but not wide enough.

"Duck, we need to stop and go another way!" she called.

But Duck and his crew thought Rosie was trying to trick them again.

"We're not falling for your tricks again Rosie," Duck said firmly. "We're going threw!" and his Driver opened the regulator, dragging Harold and Rosie along for the ride.

"But Duck you don't...Look out!"

SCREECH!

It was too late, Harold's blades, which were still sticking out, got caught on the tunnel walls and screeched as they moved threw the tunnel.

"Oww!" cried Harold.

"Stop Duck!" Rosie shouted.

Duck puffed as hard as he could, but soon came to a complete halt inside the tunnel.

"Oh no," groaned Duck's Driver. "That wasn't suppose to happen, now we're stuck. I guess we better phone for help."

The fireman climbed down from the cab and walked out of the tunnel to make the call.

Soon, workmen arrived to free Harold. They didn't come alone as the Fat Controller arrived on Winston the Track Inspection car. He did not look too happy.

"Oh this is bad, Harold will need more repairs now," he sighed. "Rosie, you were suppose to keep a good look out."

"But I...I'm sorry sir."

"I am disappointed in you Rosie, you nearly smashed into Tidmouth Station and now this, I thought you would be helpful, but I was wrong."

Poor Rosie looked like she was going to cry.

"Uh sir, the tunnel incident was my fault," said Duck. "Rosie saw that we wouldn't fit, but I thought she was trying to trick me again, so I ignored her and pulled her along."

The Fat Controller shook his head, "I thought you knew better than this Duck, that's why I sent you for this job."

"I know Sir, I am sorry sir."

"I'm disappointed in both of you, I hope you've learned your lesson after all this."

"Yes sir," sighed Duck.

"We have sir," groaned Rosie.

Once Harold was free, the tank engines pulled him out of the tunnel.

"I've heard of tunnel vision, but that was ridiculous," commented Harold. Apart from his now damaged arms, Harold was none the worse for his misadventure. But Duck and Rosie still felt terrible.

"I should've listened to you Rosie, then we wouldn't have gotten into this mess."

"But I shouldn't have tricked you in the first place. I guess we just let our prides and ways take over." Duck sighed in agreement with her. "Our job's not done yet though, let's get Harold back to the centre."

Duck was going to agree with her when he remembered, "the route I usually take will pass under bridges and threw stations, we won't fit."

"Well then we'll just have to go a different way."

"But I don't know another way there."

"I do, I helped to build that line when I arrived. Switch places with me Duck and I'll show you 'The Rosie Way'."

Duck wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but ultimately agreed to try.

They were soon on their way again, but this time, Duck was at the back keeping a good look out and Rosie lead them along a special route. It wasn't a prompt or direct way, but there was enough space for them to get threw. Finally, they reached the Sodor Search and Rescue centre. The engineers were all there, ready to fix Harold.

"Bye Duck, bye Rosie and thank you for the ride," he smiled while being lifted off the flatbed. "That was one ride I'll never forget."

"You're welcome Harold," Duck and Rosie said in unison.

The sun was setting as the tank engines puffed off for home.

"You know something Rosie, after today's events, I've learned there's three ways of doing things."

"Oh? Is that so."

"Yes. There's the Great Western Way, then there's the wrong way and there's also the Rosie way."

"It certainly helps doesn't it?" she smiled.

"Well it certainly got us out of a jam today, but I'll say this Rosie, the Great Western Way is usually the best way of doing things."

Instead of groaning, Rosie just smiled and let out a little giggle, and as for Duck, well he had to chuckle along.


	10. Thomas & the Snowplough

If many of you might recall, I did post this adaptation last year long before Christmas 2014. Well now I've gone over the story, done some minor editing and now I'm proud to add this along the other Season 17 and other 2013 adaptations. And don't worry, my adaptations of 'The Smelly Kipper' and 'Too Many Fire Engines' are being worked on and will be posted at later dates.

 _ **Thomas & the Snowplough**_

 _ **Based on "No Snow for Thomas" (2013)**_

If there is one thing everyone knows about Thomas the Tank Engine more than anything else, it is that he doesn't like his snowplough. In his opinion, it's heavy, awkward and uncomfortable. For the last few years, he's been lucky not to wear it too often, mostly due to the fact that there was little snow on the ground. The winter season of 2012/2013 however was going to be different.

Reports had been coming in from the Mainland of heavy snowfalls. These snowfalls usually catches the engines on the Other Railway off guard. To prevent that from happening on the North Western Railway, the Fat Controller had asked that all his engines wear their snowploughs. Many listened without complaining, but others, namely Thomas, argued over the request.

"There's no snow on the ground, so we shouldn't be wearing them," he complained to Edward at the junction one day.

"Perhaps Thomas, but it could snow any day now, so it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Pah! They've been saying that for several years, yet there's no snow."

"Well you never know Thomas, this year could be different."

"I doubt it. There will be no snow and I won't need this silly piece of scrap on my buffers."

Before Edward could say anything, Thomas' Guard had blown his whistle and Thomas puffed angerily away. "Hmm, something tells me that Thomas is going to get into some serious trouble this year."

Thomas complained about his snowplough all day, but his crew took no notice. Then Thomas remembered something. He remembered that when his snowplough was broken, he couldn't wear it.

"Yes, that could work," he thought to himself.

But he should've remembered that time when he didn't have his snowplough on, and he got stuck in the snow and had to be rescued by Terence the Tractor. But he forgot about that incident and made a plan.

Later, he was placed on a siding to allow Daisy to pass and that's when he put his plan into action.

"Ow!" he shouted. "My plough feels like it's going to brake my buffers off. I think there's something wrong with it!"

At first, his crew didn't believe him, but when they saw Thomas crying, they thought it really was hurting him. They were only fake tears of course, but the crew didn't know that.

"Alright Thomas, we'll take if off," said his Driver. "But we'll have to come back for it later so it can be fixed."

"Thank you sir," sobbed Thomas, but on the inside, he was cheering.

It took some time, but soon the snowplough was off. Then once Daisy had passed, Thomas continued on with his journey, smirking to himself. But they were so busy that day that they forgot to go back for the snowplough.

When they reached the sheds that night, the Driver slapped his forehead.

"Oh drat it, we forget to bring the snowplough back here," he groaned.

"Don't worry, I'll ask someone to pick it up before morning," said Thomas.

With that worrying thought out of their heads, the crew dropped the fire and headed off for home. Thomas felt very pleased with himself.

When Emily and the other engines came home they night, they noticed that Thomas didn't have his snowplough on.

"Where is your snowplough?" Emily asked.

"I can't find it," Thomas fibbed. "My crew took it off earlier and now it's gone."

The innocent smirk on his face told Toby a different answer, "you're not fibbing to get out of wearing your snowplough, are you?" he asked curiously.

"Don't be silly Toby, no respectable engine would do that."

"You've pulled stunts in the past to lose your snowplough and they usually come back to bite you in the buffers."

"Well I haven't done that this time. Besides, I don't need it, there's no snow."

But Thomas was going to be proven wrong. That night, it did snow. It was light at first, but then it really started to come down, covering everything in a blanket of white.

In the morning, when the crews arrived, the engines recieved a shock.

"You were saying there won't be any snow Thomas?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow.

Thomas was shocked, but not as much as his crew, "where's your snowplough Thomas?" asked the Driver. "I thought you were going to ask the workmen to pick it up."

"I did ask, but I guess they forgot."

"It does happen," said the fireman.

The other engines stared coldly at Thomas, they could tell he was fibbing again. Just then, the Fat Controller arrived to give out jobs, he was surprised to see Thomas without his snowplough.

"Since you don't have it on Thomas, you'll have to wait here until further notice."

"Very well sir," said Thomas, who was smirking on the inside.

"Emily, since you have your snowplough on, you're going have to clear all the tracks on the branch line. Rosie can do your work until you get back."

"Yes sir," sighed Emily, but she wasn't happy.

Thomas was just beaming, "no snowplough and no snowplough duties. This is turning out to be a good day."

Emily didn't feel the same way, she felt this was her unlucky day.

"He probably hid that snowplough of his on purpose," grumbled Emily. "And now I have to do his work and my own as well. It isn't fair."

Then she passed a field and heard laughter.

"They're all probably laughing at me because I'm wearing a silly snowplough."

This made Emily even more cross, but her Driver soothed her down, "They're not laughing at you old girl, just look over to the field."

Emily did look and saw children sliding on sleds, building snowmen and having snowball fights.

"Oh so that's why they're laughing. They look like they're having alot of fun," she said as she watched them. "Maybe ploughing threw the snow can be fun too."

The Driver opened the regulator and Emily sped up. She pushed the snow away with ease and she was laughing as she sped along. In no time at all, Emily had cleared all the tracks. The Fat Controller was very impressed. He came to the junction to see her.

"I must say, apart from Donald and Douglas, I've never seen an engine look so excited to be ploughing snow."

"Well sir, I finally learned that it can be alot of fun," smiled Emily.

"Well since you've done a great job keeping the lines clear, you can take Annie and Clarabel and pick up all of Thomas' passengers."

Emily was thrilled, but then thought of her own coaches, "What about Alison and Madison sir?"

"You can take them too."

"Oh thank you sir," she beamed and hurried off back to the sheds.

Back at the sheds, Thomas was getting bored. "At least I don't have to wear a silly snowplough like Emily does," he thought to himself. "Still, I wish I had something to do."

Just then, Emily arrived to collect the coaches. She puffed over to the branch line turntable and quickly got turned around.

"I don't know why you don't like your snowplough Thomas, clearing the tracks is great fun."

"Your dome must be cracked Emily, cause that's not true. It's time consuming and the snowplough is heavy and awkward."

"Well it's your opinion Thomas. It's a shame though, cause if you had it with you, you could work, but instead, I get to take your coaches out along with mine."

"What?!" Thomas exclaimed. "But you can't, they are my coaches and that's my job!"

"Not today Thomas, not without your snowplough on. It's the Fat Controller's orders."

Thomas watched as Emily was first coupled up to Alison and Madison, then to Annie and Clarabel.

"See you later Thomas!" Emily called as she puffed away.

"Bye Thomas," called Annie and Clarabel. "Hope your snowplough turns up soon."

Thomas was now upset, Annie and Clarabel were his carriages and unless he was away, he didn't want anyone else taking them. Especially Emily. Just then, the stationmaster arrived.

"There's a loaded goods train that needs to get to the junction, will you take it?"

Thomas was about to say that he couldn't leave the shed, but then thought if he left the sheds, he could get his snowplough and Emily would have to give him his coaches back.

"Of course I'll take it sir, I just need to wait for my crew to return."

"Okay, but please hurry Thomas," and then he left.

His crew arrived moments later with coffee and sandwiches in their hands.

"We've been asked to take a goods train and to pick up my snowplough along the way," he said to them. "I've just been told that it's been fixed good and proper."

"Alright then, let's get going," said the Driver.

Once the fireman had made the fire, Thomas set off.

Thomas thought he was being clever, but when he reached the siding where they left the snowplough, they discovered it wasn't there.

"Oh botheration, someone must've stolen it or it's buried."

Now he was worried. "Where's your snowplough Thomas?" asked the Driver.

Thomas tried to think of another fib, "uh, it was moved caused of the snow, we'll pick it up later," he answered. "Stationmaster said we're okay since Emily has cleared the tracks."

And with that, they set off for the junction.

When they started their journey, the sky was blue, but no sooner had they passed the place where they left the snowplough, then grey clouds came rolling in. They were snow clouds and sure enough, it started to snow again.

Now Thomas was really worried, "must get to the junction, must get to the junction," he puffed. "Can't get stuck! Can't get stuck!"

He had already gotten stuck in the snow several times in the past and was determined not to get stuck again. He forged bravely on, but the snow kept falling and soon it was piled up on the tracks. Then there was trouble ahead, a snowdrift, higher than the rest, was in Thomas' path. Thomas tried to stop, but with the weight of his train, he couldn't stop himself and crashed into the bank.

"Oh no, not again," groaned the fireman.

Thomas tried to push forward, but it was no good. He tried to go back, that didn't work either. It was official, Thomas was stuck once more. His Driver called for help while the fireman dealt with the fire.

They waited for a long time, the snow got higher and higher and soon, it was as high as Thomas' footplate.

"Oh I wish I hadn't hidden my snowplough earlier, now no one will ever find me here," Thomas sighed unhappily.

But then, he heard two familar sounds. One was a classic chugging sound and the other was the puffing of a steam engine. Then there was a whistle. Right away, Thomas knew who his rescuers were.

"It's Terence and Emily!" he cheered.

Sure enough, it was Terence and Emily, both armed with their snowploughs.

"Having a little problem with the snow Thomas?" Terence asked. "Some things never change."

"Indeed not," said another voice. Thomas gulped, he knew who that was. The Fat Controller stepped towards him. "Thomas, you were to stay at the sheds, yet I hear that you've gotten stuck."

Thomas sighed and confessed everything. "I'm sorry sir, I hid my snowplough and fibbed just to get out of wearing it." His crew stared angerily at him. "But now I can't even find it."

"Well you'll be happy to know Thomas that we found it," said Emily. "It was buried underneath the snow."

"Thank you Emily...and sorry sir."

The Fat Controller shook his head, "I know your snowplough is heavy and uncomfortable, but it is important that you wear it, for such times like this. Once you're dug out and have your snowplough on, you can take the goods train to the junction, then you can clear the tracks for the other engines.

Thomas was going to groan, but instead he said; "yes sir."

Terence and Emily soon had him out of the snow and his crew fasterned on his snowplough.

"On your way to the junction, look at the fields Thomas and you'll see the reason why _I_ like the snow now," said Emily.

The two trains set off. Thomas grumbled about his snowplough, but his mood soon changed when he saw children building snowmen. The Fat Controller was riding on board and was impressed with one of them. It almost looked like him.

"That one looks very smart," he commented.

"Yes indeed sir," said Thomas. "A snowman needs a hat for this kind of weather."

Without warning, a snowball flew at the Fat Controller, which knocked his hat off his head. Thomas was trying hard not to laugh.

"Clearly, I need to keep my hat on as much as Thomas needs to keep his snowplough on." He dusted off his hat and looked out the cab, "now, who threw that snowball?"


	11. Runaway Winston

I know originally I said I was going to post four adaptations before the Christmas season for 2015, but the fourth one is still in the works, and may be late getting posted. The other three however are ready for your viewing pleasure. The first is one I've been thinking about doing for months, and have only recently got into doing. Just so you know, Dennis the Grey Diesel works on the Little Western and Barry works on the main line doing odd jobs like Donald and Douglas. The second one is the adaptation of 'Kevin's Cranky Friend', which had orignally been posted before, but now has updates to it. Finally the third one involves another request and is based on the episode 'The Smelly Kipper'. There will be more adaptations to come in 2016 for the 2013 based stories, but for the holiday season, I will take a break...after I finish the next adaptation. What will it be based on? Well I can't say for now, you'll have to wait to find out.

 _ **Runaway Winston**_

 _ **Based on "Wayward Winston" (2013)**_

Summertime is a busy time on the Little Western branch as more visitors come to visit the line, and more routes around the Island order ballast from the Small Railway. Added with heat waves, it wears the engines out, but that's not all that gets worn out. Tracks also bend in the heat of the sun, and left unattended, it could cause an engine and it's train to derail. This year, the engines found it unbearable to roll along on the tracks.

One day, Duck was puffing down the line with Alice and Mirabel. They were loaded with passengers, like the Fat Controller and his family. They were going well, until they came to the bumpy tracks. Duck bounced up and down, and so did his passengers.

"My goodness, Duck stop!" cried the Fat Controller.

Duck's Driver heard and gently eased them to a stop. Duck was relieved, "that was rough, and certainly not the Great Western Way of doing things."

The Fat Controller jumped down from Alice, then he and the crew inspected the tracks.

"Oh dear, these lines are rusty and buckled, they need to be replaced as soon as possible. I will phone the workmen when we reach the terminus with the Small Railway."

He climbed back on board, then Duck puffed on as carefully as he could along the bumpy tracks.

By late afternoon, the workmen arrived to begin their work on replacing the bumpy lines. Since the Little Western had become double tracked in recent years, they closed one line and placed caution flags along the other line so engines wouldn't race along them, not that they wanted to with the state of the tracks. The foreman brought Winston when they came, but the Fat Controller had asked if he could use the Track Inspection car to keep an eye on the progress of the line.

"Of course you can Sir," said the foreman, "Winston's all yours."

Of course, Winston is not like a normal car as he has no wheel to turn his front wheels and has levers to make him stop or go. Many of the workmen had gotten used to working with Winston, but not the Fat Controller, he still wasn't sure how to use him. As a result, Winston would stop, start and jerk along the line.

"I am sorry about that Winston, I'm still learning."

"No worries Sir, it's just early days," Winston said with a smile.

He was a very patient inspection car, but he didn't like the comments from the big engines whenever he came back into the yards. They would see him jerking along and laugh.

"Start, stop. Stop, start he goes," chuckled Gordon. "What a silly vehicle he is."

"He can't even make up his own mind," added James.

Winston tried to ignore them, but they talked so much about his jerks that it was soon starting to get to him, and made him feel rather sad.

One day, the Fat Controller brought him to another section of line to inspect the work. As he stepped out, Winston called out, "uh Sir, aren't you forgotting to do something?"

The Fat Controller stopped suddenly, "oh yes, the parking brake, sorry Winston."

He walked back to the track inspection car and applied the brake. Winston sighed, he was always having to remind the Fat Controller to apply the brakes, and while he normally didn't mind, today he felt annoyed.

Dennis the diesel had to stop close by with loaded ballast wagons as cranes lifted the old rails away. He could see how miserable Winston was.

"You alright Winston? Your smile is completely upside down today."

Winston sighed, "I got nothing to smile about Dennis. The other engines laugh at me whenever the Fat Controller takes me out." He paused and looked to make sure the Fat Controller wasn't listening, "he's not a very good driver with me."

"Really? Cause he drives his blue car all the time, and he does well with that."

"Perhaps, but not with me. I stop, I start and jerk about, and I'm getting tired of it. Sometimes, it makes me wish I could go off without a driver."

Dennis laughed, "don't be silly Winston, all engines need drivers, just ask Thomas and James, they're sure to tell you that. Just don't let the big engines get to you, and don't worry about the Fat Controller, I'm sure he'll learn how to drive you properly one day, you'll soon see."

With his inspection done, the Fat Controller returned to Winston, and with several jerks, he roared into life and started off once more. Winston knew Dennis was right, but still, he wished he could go off on his own. He was soon to get that chance.

That evening, they returned to check on more of the line. The Fat Controller stepped down from Winston and went to speak with the foreman. Winston was about to tell him to apply the brakes, but then changed his mind. He didn't say anything, and with no brakes on, Winston started to roll. Slowly at first, then he gathered speed.

A workman looked up for a moment and noticed something, "uh sir, where's your car?"

"He's right over..." the Fat Controller gasped when he saw Winston running off. He tried to catch the runaway car, but it was no use. He was gathering speed and racing down the Little Western, and heading back to Knapford Station.

"Uh, I don't think that's suppose to happen," said the same workman.

"You think?" asked another.

Luckily, Oliver was coming with a train load of ballast. The Fat Controller grabbed a red flag and waved him down. Oliver stopped, "what's the matter Sir?"

"It's Winston, he's running away! I need your help to stop him."

"Of course Sir, climb aboard."

He did so, and Oliver started away once more. But due to the condition of some of the lines, they had to go slowly, which meant Winston would get a good lead.

Winston smiled as he rolled along, it felt good to be rolling on his own. He was having the time of his life and enjoyed looking at the scenery around him.

"The Little Western sure is a beautiful line," he thought to himself, "I must make sure to tell those engines that."

Meanwhile, Oliver had cleared the bad lines and now was able to speed up. He could see Winston in the distance.

"We're catching up, well done Oliver, keep it up!" called the Fat Controller.

Of course, the trucks wanted to have some fun and held back, making Oliver slow down. The Fat Controller called back to them, "trucks, release your brakes, this is an emergency!"

But the trucks giggled in their silly way and refused to listen.

"Sorry Sir, but ballast trucks listen to no-one but themselves," said Oliver. "The only way to get them to listen is to bump them." Oliver's Driver slammed on the brakes, then opened the regulator, making Oliver bump the trucks hard, "behave yourselves, the Controller is on board!"

"Yes Mr Oliver, we'll be good."

Their antics though had allowed Winston to get ahead, and worst of all, he was approaching a level crossing. Bertie the Bus was beginning to cross it.

"Oh no, Bertie get back!" cried Winston.

Bertie's Driver send them into reverse and they backed off the tracks, just as Winston rolled threw. Oliver then blasted threw, "Sorry about that Bertie!" he called and disappeared into the distance. Bertie, still rather shaken, set off once more.

Winston continued to roll on and soon reached the yards. Sadly, he couldn't stop and worst still, Barry was pulling out of the yards with a goods train.

"Watch out Barry!" cried Winston.

Barry heard him and his Driver slammed on the brakes. They missed Winston with mere inches to spare.

"What's the big rush?" Barry wondered. Then he heard Oliver.

The Great Western engine roared into the yards, but then slowed down. "What's going on? Winston's getting away!"

The fireman groaned, "you're running out of water! We can't continue on!" They slowed even more and stopped. Oliver sighed unhappily, as did the Fat Controller.

Then he saw Barry and ran towards him, "Winston's parking brake isn't on, he's run away!"

"Right, say no more, we'll catch him."

The Fat Controller climbed on board, and Barry steamed off, with Oliver wishing him good luck.

By now, Winston was going at full speed, but he wasn't having fun now. He wanted to stop, but he couldn't. He just kept rolling along.

"Oh I wish I could stop, I wish I had a Driver!" he cried. "Help! Help!"

Thankfully, Barry had a full tender and once out of the yards, he was able to pick up speed. In no time, he caught up with the runaway Winston.

"Right, I'll get him," said the Driver. "Sir, can you operate the controls?"

"Of course Driver," nodded the Fat Controller.

The Driver climbed out onto the running board and held onto Barry's handles for dear life. At last, he reached Barry's front end. He waved to the Fat Controller to get closer.

"Hang on tight Joseph," Barry called as his wheels spun faster and faster.

Timing his movement perfectly, the Driver jumped into Winston and waved back to his engine. Barry slowed down and once he was a good distance away, the driver applied Winston's brakes.

"Whew, what a relief," sighed Winston.

The Driver reversed Winston and stopped him in front of Barry, "well Winston, from what I heard from Dennis, you wanted to go without a Driver. Was this trip worth it?"

"No it wasn't."

The Fat Controller stepped forward, "I am displeased with you Winston, going off without me and nearly having accidents along the line."

"But Sir, it wasn't all my fault, you forgot to put on my brakes."

The Fat Controller thought back and gasped, "oh my. You are right Winston, _I_ was the one that caused all this. I am so sorry, I should've put on your brakes."

"But I should've reminded you Sir," sighed Winston. "I know now that I _always_ need a driver. I promise I won't go off without one in future."

"Good to hear that Winston, and don't worry, we'll both learn to work better in future. After all, it's still early days."

"Indeed it is Sir," smiled Winston.

After several weeks, the lines were replaced and the engines were back to running at normal speed. The engines, the crews and passengers were very pleased. As for Winston, the Fat Controller still has trouble driving him, but he knows one day, he will learn. In the meantime, he's just glad to have him back in the Driver's seat once more.

Still, I bet you're wondering about the ballast wagons and the big engines right? Well the Scottish twins and Duck made sure the ballast wagons learned valuable lessons, and as for the big engines, well let's just say when the Fat Controller heard, his words to them were not kind at all. Needless to say, they learned never to be rude to Winston again.


	12. Kevin Helps Out

_**Kevin Helps Out**_

 _ **Based on "Kevin's Cranky Friend" (2013)**_

It was summetime and usually, it results in lots of work down at Brendam Docks on Edward's Branch Line, but this year, it was busier than ever. There were lots of orders for china clay, and ships would drop off cargo while waiting to be loaded up again. Cranky the Crane was working his hardest, but the cargo just kept coming.

"I'm getting tired of all this work," he complained. "Will it ever stop?"

He was so busy complaining that he didn't notice the crates he was lifting nearly hit Douglas, "och, watch whit ye're doin' Cranky," he shouted.

"I always watch what I do!" Cranky shouted back.

He dropped the crates with a thud, much to the annoyance of the dock workers, who shouted at Cranky to be more careful.

"Can ye unload me goods naw?" Douglas asked.

"No! You'll have to wait your turn!" Cranky snapped crossly. "You must be blind if you can't see that I am busy..." **HONK! HONK!** A ship's horn blared at Cranky. "Keep your stack on, I'm coming!"

Salty oiled over with empty china clay trucks for Bill and Ben to collect.

"Arr, it may be a sunny day matey, but if Cranky gets any crankier, then ye can be sure that dark clouds will appear on the horizon, har-arr," he joked.

Douglas wished he could find the funny side, but he couldn't as he knew this wait would make him late.

And indeed it did make him late. When he finally returned to Wellsworth, he was an hour late. The stationmaster came to see him and his crew, "where have you been Douglas? You were suppose to go to the Little Western to help your twin."

"There was nothin' we could da sirr," Douglas sighed unhappily. "We had ta wait cause Cranky is sae busy with all the wurk at the docks."

The crew said the same thing, "it's quite a mess down there sir."

"Is it now? I better let the Fat Controller know about this before we get anymore complaints."

He phoned the Fat Controller from his office and soon, he arrived at the docks. He couldn't believe his eyes. The docks were in a big mess and while Cranky was working hard, not alot was getting done. The twins; Bill and Ben were shouting at Cranky to hurry up.

"We're going to rust away by the time you unload our trains," said Bill.

"We would like to celebrate Christmas this year, so hurry it up!" shouted Ben.

Cranky was about to shout back when he saw the Fat Controller walk up to him.

"Cranky! What is going on here? This dockside is a complete mess!"

"I know that sir, I'm doing my best, but it's not easy for me."

"Hmm yes, it does seem to be a little much for you alone. Maybe you could do more if you had some help."

"Help?! I don't need any help sir, I can handle all this..." but before he could finish, Cranky dropped a crate in front of Bill. It burst open and cabbages flew everywhere.

The Fat Controller shook his head unhappily, but was surprised when a cabbage bounced up and landed in his right hand.

"Good catch sir," chuckled Ben.

"Thanks," he muttered, then focused back to Cranky. "It's clear that you do need help, so I'm going to get another crane to help you get things under control before Chaos and Disorder brakes out here."

Cranky kept saying he didn't need help, but the Fat Controller didn't listen and drove away.

"Har-arr," cheered Salty. "Help is on the way me hearties."

A workman nearly fell down thanks to the cabbages that had been dropped, "and not a moment too soon," he groaned.

The Fat Controller drove down to the Crovan's Gate Steamworks and walked inside. There wasn't alot of activity in there, the only bit of work being done was Victor shunting trucks.

"My goodness, I haven't seen the Steamworks this empty before."

"Indeed sir, I haven't seen this either," said Mister Richards, manager of the Steamworks. "But it just means that all the engines are working probably today. Now, what can we do for you?"

"Well I was wondering if I could borrow Kevin for a while."

The Fat Controller then explained about the mess down at Brendam.

"Of course you can borrow Kevin sir, I'm sure he would be happy to be useful today."

Mister Richards went to speak with Kevin, and just as he said, Kevin was more than happy to go. "I've always wanted to go to Brendam and I've always wanted to work alongside Cranky."

"Most excellent to hear." Mister Richards then told the Fat Controller of what Kevin said.

"I'll make the arrangments straight away," smiled the Fat Controller. As he was leaving though, a thought came to him, "I hope Kevin and Cranky will get along, otherwise it _will_ result in Chaos, Disorder, not to mention much delay."

Nearly an hour later, BoCo arrived at Brendam Harbour with Kevin on a flatbed behind him. "We're here Kevin, good luck with your job."

Kevin said goodbye and thank you, then ran off to meet Cranky. He was expecting to see a big smile on Cranky's face. I'm sorry to say that Kevin was not going to see a smile, but a frown on Cranky's face.

"Who or what are you?" Cranky asked rudely.

"My name is Kevin and by the order of Sir Topham Hatt, I'm here to help you clean up this dockside. So, what would you like me to do first?"

"How about you go away?!"

"I beg your pardon?" Kevin was confused by this response.

"I told the Fat Controller I didn't need help and I still don't need it, especially from a funny looking crane like you."

"But there must be something I can do to help."

Cranky snorted, "oh there is...go over to the warehouses and stay out of my way! I don't care what you do, just stay away from me! I can handle this work alone!"

Kevin sighed and rolled over to the warehouses where Salty was working. He had heard everything Cranky had said.

"Don't feel too down on yourself me hearty. Cranky by name and cranky by nature, har-arr. He does that to everyone, but he'll soon learn to except your help. In the meantime, why don't you move some of these crates around?"

Kevin did that and it started to cheer him up.

Cranky continued to work on his own, but the cargo kept on coming. He grew more and more tired, and that's when he started to make mistakes. As he was lifting a load of pipes, they slipped off his crate and fell onto the dockside.

"Uh oh," groaned Cranky.

Kevin saw this and went to help. He rolled all the pipes along the dockside, then he lifted them into a neat tidy pile. The dock workers were impressed with Kevin, but Cranky wasn't.

"I told you to stay out of my way! You're making me dizzy! Now get lost!"

Kevin didn't argue, he just rolled away. But he hadn't gone far before he heard, "Whoops!"

His operator looked back and saw that Cranky had knocked over another crate, only this one had live chickens inside it.

"Shiver me axles, there be chickens!" exclaimed Salty.

The chickens were running about all over the place, and once again, Kevin set to work. He chased after them and lead them to a waiting workman with a new crate for them. Once they had been rounded up, the workman closed the door and locked it.

"Nice work matey, you would make a captain proud."

Cranky looked down crossly at Kevin, "you listen to me this time, if I catch you coming back over here again, I will throw you into the water!"

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?"

"If you get in my way, I will! Now get lost!"

Kevin sighed and went back to the Warehouses. Cranky normally would never say that, but with the heavy workloads, it was making him rather grumpy.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Kevin stayed away and Cranky didn't drop anything else. Edward came by sometime later with empty trucks.

"Hullo Kevin, you enjoying yourself here?"

"Not really Edward," Kevin said unhappily. "I've been trying to help, but Cranky just keep telling me to get lost."

"I wouldn't let that bother you, he'll soon except your help."

"Salty said the same thing, but I don't think that'll be happening. I don't think he likes me at all."

"Don't be so sure, cause under all that gruff beats a real heart of gold."

At that moment, Cranky was lifting more crates for a ship when it hit several barrels, which made them roll towards the water. Kevin could see this, but he wasn't sure if he should help or not. In the end, he decided to risk it. He rolled over to the barrels and managed to get many of them away from the edge of the dock.

Cranky saw him, "right, that's it!" And he swung his crate at Kevin.

"Stop boy!" shouted his operator. "Don't do it!"

But Cranky did, he went aganist his operator's control and smacked Kevin with the crate and pushed him right into the water.

"Help! Help!" cried Kevin.

His operator jumped out in the nick of time, but he was cross with Cranky. "Get my crane out of the water!"

"I refuse! I told him to stay out of my way, but he wouldn't listen to me. He can stay there for all I care."

Edward and Salty rushed over right away, "Get him out Captain!"

"Now Cranky!" Edward said firmly to him.

Cranky ignored them at first, but soon gave in and lifted Kevin back to the dockside. He was soaked and his engine was flooded. He even had a crab on his roof.

"What is going on here?" came a booming voice.

Kevin gulped, he knew that voice belonged to the Fat Controller. He had returned to see how things were going.

"This crane had been nothing but trouble," Cranky called down. "He's been running around, making me dizzy and then he sunk himself into the water."

"That's not true sir, I..."

"I don't want to hear a word. I want you to go back to the Steamworks. It's clear that you're not helping here at all."

Kevin sighed unhappily, he tried to be useful, but now he was going to be sent away in disgrace.

"Good riddence," sniffed Cranky and went back to work.

"Sir, don't send Kevin away," Edward piped up. "The only reason he ended up in the water was because of Cranky. He accidently knocked over some barrels and Kevin raced in to save them, but Cranky hit him with a crate and pushed him into the water."

"It's true Captain," added Salty. "It was like a mutiny. And earlier, when Cranky made some mistakes, Kevin went to help, but Cranky told him to 'get lost' and that he would throw the young matey into the water if he came over to help."

The Fat Controller looked crossly up at Cranky.

"You're not really going to believe them, are you sir? I'm telling you the truth!"

"I don't think you are. I believe Edward and Salty, they never fib to me, unlike you."

"Okay so I fibbed to you, but sir, I don't need any help!"

"You do need help, that's why I brought Kevin here, but it seems that your ego got in the way. Now, you will let Kevin help, or I'll get other cranes to work here and you can stand up there and look pretty."

He then turned to Kevin, "Keep up the good work young crane."

"Yes sir," Kevin smiled.

It took a while, but soon Kevin was running again.

"What do you want me to do now Cranky? I don't want to get in your way and go for another swim."

Salty, Edward and BoCo, who had arrived to collect china clay hoods and tankers, stared up at Cranky firmly.

"Maybe I do need some help, it's clear that I can't do everything myself. What do you say we work together and get this dockside cleaned up?"

Kevin was delighted. Cranky lowered the crates and Kevin took them away, then he brought the other crates for Cranky to load onto the ships.

"He's doing a fine job matry," said Salty.

Cranky had to admit that Kevin was a good worker, but still...

"Why does he have to be so cheerful all the time?"


	13. James' Smelly Job

Before I forget, the character 'Mira' is a fan-made character that was created by: D.J. Scales and used with his permission.

 _ **James' Smelly Job**_

 _ **Based on "The Smelly Kipper" (2013)**_

One evening, Bear was returning to the sheds after completing another successful run with the Limited. As he backed into his berth, he could hear James telling a ghost train story, and by the sounds of it, he was annoying the other engines again.

"So, how long has he been telling stories?" he asked Mira, the daughter of his driver and clearner at the big engine sheds.

"He's been at it for the last hour," she answered. "He's been giving us a headache, well mostly me."

"...as I rounded the bend, that's when I saw the ghost train coming after me. I didn't run though, I stood my ground and told the ghost train I wasn't scared of it. It then vanished and I continued on my way safely."

Most of the engines rolled their eyes, but Henry laughed, "oh really? And this coming from the engine who ran away from the Ghost of Ulfstead Castle."

The other engines burst into giggle fits.

"Oh shut up Henry!" snapped James, "I wasn't scared, I just had another job to do, that's all. That's why I took off in a hurry."

"Oh sure you did," chuckled Henry and rolled his eyes again.

Just then, the yard manager arrived, "the fisherman have made a request for another run of the Flying Kipper. This season seems to be the best one they've ever had. So, do I have any volunteers to take the train?"

"Well it won't be me, I hate the smell of fish," grumbled James.

"You hate anything that gets you dirty James," said Mira. "Plus, you're only avoiding the job because of your incident back in 1992 when Henry was away for overhaul. If anyone didn't know better, I'd say you're scared of the train."

"I'm not scared Mira, and everyone knows it!"

"Well then prove it James," said Henry. "Take the kipper tomorrow and show us how brave you really are."

James snorted, but agreed to pull the train. "Very well James," said the foreman, "the train leaves at 5:00 A.M., make sure you're there on time, we cannot have the train running late and having the fish spoil." And then he left. What he didn't know was that James had no intension to pull the train, he already had a sneaky plan in the works.

When morning came and his crew arrived to get him steamed up, James fibbed to them. "Uh, there's been a slight change in plans. The Fat Controller wants me on an early passenger run, and he wants Bear to take the kipper."

The fireman wasn't convinced, "James, the Fat Controller would've told us before if there was a change in plans."

"Yeah well he came later in the evening after you had gone. He said 'James, tell your crew that you will not be pulling the Flying Kipper. Bear will take the train'."

The Driver sighed, "I'm not sure if James is telling the truth, but we can't take any chances. I'll phone Bear's Driver and you get him ready to go."

Bear was stunned when his engine was turned on, "what's going on? The Limited isn't due for another few hours."

"Sorry Bear, change in plans. The Fat Controller wants you to take the Flying Kipper."

"Oh bother and blow, then that means I'm running late."

When Bear's Driver arrived, it was four forty five. He drove Bear down to the docks, but it was five fifteen by the time they set off. After that, no matter how hard he tried, Bear just could not make up for lost time.

Mira was stunned when she woke up and saw Bear pulling the flying kipper.

"That James, he fibbed his way out of pulling the Kipper again," she said angerily. "Well he's not going to get away with that."

At Knapford, she spoke with the Fat Controller about James' antics to get out of pulling the Flying Kipper. He sighed as he leaned back in his office chair, "and here I thought James had learned his lesson after the Ulfstead Castle incident, clearly that wasn't the case. Don't you worry Mira, I will deal with James."

"Thank you Sir, but what about my father and Bear?"

"I'll deal with them too."

And he did, later that morning. He pulled up outside the shed, just as Bear was returning. The poor diesel engine and his Driver were tired after their evening's work.

"Bear, I've been hearing you've been doing alot of work lately, and I am impressed as always. As a reward, you will go to the Dieselworks to be given an inspection, and a fresh coat of paint. And you Driver, you can take some time off and rest."

"Thank you Sir," they said in unison.

"But Sir, what about my jobs?"

"Henry and Barry will take care of your jobs," he said. "I'm sure those two wouldn't mind helping out with the work." He then turned to James, "You on the other hand, I am _not_ impressed with."

"Wh...whatever do you mean Sir?" James asked nervously.

"You said you would take the Flying Kipper last night, yet you went back on your word and got Bear to take the train in your place. If there is one thing I cannot stand, it's when engines fib to get out of work."

James' Driver slapped his forehead, "I knew we should've checked with the Fat Controller instead of listening to James. Why do we always listen to him?" The fireman shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm sorry Sir, but the fish are just too smelly for me."

"Smelly or not, you will not be avoiding this kind of work anymore James. You will pull the Flying Kipper tomorrow morning, so don't try fibbing your way out of it."

James sighed and gave in. He then glared back at Mira, who had been listening from the doorway. He was furious, and thought of how to pay Mira out.

James arrived at the docks at four thirty the next morning. The smell of fish was in the air. He wanted to leave, but the Fat Controller had ordered him to do the job, so he couldn't.

"Your train's just about ready James," said the dock manager. "We just got a few more crates to load up."

"Great, so while you do that, I'll go back to the shed."

"Oh you won't James," his Driver said firmly. "You're going to pull the train and that's final. Now let's get you coupled up."

James reversed slowly towards the vans. They saw him and started whispering to each other, "hey look fellas, here comes James the Red Engine."

"No, not James, any engine but James."

"Oh but it is James."

"Wasn't he the engine they had to hose down back in 92 after a crate was dropped in front of him?"

"I think he was. But it's a shocker to see him here, after all, he's scared of the smelly fish." And the vans burst into laughter.

"Shut up back there!" snapped James. But the vans continued, which made James even more cross. They made him so cross that he wasn't watching what was going on around him.

The crane above him was unloading more crates for the workmen to load up. The crates were almost to the ground when, "look out James!" BANG! James bumped into the crates, knocking all the fish onto him.

"Oh for crying out loud James!" cried his Driver. "You need to watch what you're doing."

The vans however giggled with laughter, "the fish is suppose to go into us, not on you smelly James." James fumed as a fish bounced off his nose and landed on the pile of fish in front of him.

It took some time to clear the mess, and to hose down the rails. James wanted to be cleaned too, but his crew denyed him the chance.

"It'll serve you right for fibbing and not keeping a good eye on what you're doing," they said.

Soon the mess was cleared away, the all clear signal was given and James stormed away. He made up for lost time, but everywhere he went, people commented on the heavy smell of fish. They laughed when told of James' accident.

He soon finished his work and returned to the big engine sheds for a rest. But the teasing wasn't going to stop there. Belle was the first to notice, "whew, what a smell, where is that coming from?"

"It's coming from James," chuckled Henry, "and by the looks of it, he's brought a present for the Fat Controller."

"What are you talking about Henry?" snorted James. He then looked down, there was still a fish underneath the front of his smokebox. "Oh yuck, get that thing off of me!"

James' driver laughed as he removed it. The other engines laughed too.

"I had a small accident at the docks, nothing too serious mind you. All the fish got to where they needed to go."

"Oh, so that explains the shine in your coat James," chuckled Gordon. "Fish do wonders for it, you should take the train more often."

Just then, the Fat Controller arrived, "Well done James, in spite of your incident down at the docks, you delivered the fish safely. Though next time, make sure you take the fish in the vans, and not on you."

The engines burst into laughter, they thought the subject was funny. James didn't, and shuddered in embarassment.


	14. Gone Swimming

That's right readers, I am back into doing the adaptations within the timeline of 2013. I apologize for not bringing out that other adaptation I had told you all about before Christmas, but it will come out, it might actually be the next one cause at this time, I am editing it and getting it ready for posting. Today though, I have an adaptation that I've been wanting to do since I did the adaptation of 'Away from the Sea', which you can find in this folder. This one is about our new friend; Porter and a certain S18 engine will be introduced in this story.

 _ **Gone Swimming**_

 _ **Based on "Gone Fishing" (2013)**_

One morning, Porter was shunting some empty hoods and tankers ready to go back to the China Clay pits. As he was shunting, he spotted quite an unusual engine. It was a steamer, but he had a big crane arm on top of it's boiler and it had square buffers.

"Hullo there," called the engine, "You must be Porter, I've heard quite a bit about you."

"You have?" asked the grey tank engine.

"Oh yes, I often talk with the Wellsworth engines and they say you're doing a great job. Not to mention you're taking alot of stress off Salty's buffers." Then the engine realised, "oh sorry I forgot to mention my name, I'm Harvey."

"Well it's nice to meet you Harvey." Porter then looked up at the crane arm, "forgive me for asking this, but is that crane arm real?"

Harvey just smiled, "of course it's real, I'm Sodor's only mobile steam crane engine, and it's come in handy in more than one emergency."

The crane arm suddenly came into life. It moved towards some crates and once the chains were connected to the hook, Harvey lifted one of the crates onto a nearby flatbed.

"Wow, that's impressive," smiled Porter. "That must make you double useful."

"I guess it does," chuckled Harvey.

Just then, Bill and Ben arrived with loaded trucks for Molly to take away. They laughed when they saw Porter, "oh look Ben, it's old Camelback himself."

"Lazing about while we do all the work Porter? I thought you were useful," snickered Ben.

Porter had been the recieving end of Bill and Ben's taunts for several weeks now and he was getting fed up. Harvey stared down at the little tank engines, "that's enough you two, now collect your trucks and be off with you!"

"Oh go catch a fish," snapped Bill. Then he and Ben left, laughing as they went.

"Sorry about them Porter, they can be like that," said Harvey.

"No worries, I'm starting to get used to it. But why did Ben say to go catch a fish?"

"I think you mean Bill, and it's just a joke cause once Cranky had to lift Kevin the mobile crane out of the water, and ever since, whenever they see a crane, they say we should go fishing. But I wouldn't take any notice of them, they'll get tired of their remarks soon."

But it didn't. Whenever the china clay twins arrived at the docks, they teased Porter endlessly and once in a while, they would sneak up behind Porter when he was shunting, blow their whistles and make him jump. Porter would then bash his trucks, and more than one got damaged. Edward, Salty and the other engines tried to get the twins to behave themselves, but they just kept on teasing Porter and call him names.

Porter was the cheerful type of engine, but Bill and Ben can get to any engine at some point.

One wet morning, Porter was shunting trucks into line for Edward to take away. He soon finished, and went to take on water.

As the fireman filled up his tank, the Driver noticed the Dock manager walking around with a nervous look, "hmm, I wonder what's gotten him so anxious." He climbed down from the cab and went to find out.

He returned quite soon, "turns out Edward's been called away on another job and won't be able to take the goods train. He wants another engine to take the train, and I said we could do it."

"And what did he say after that?" asked the fireman.

"He agreed to let us take the train, but he warned us to be careful."

"I think we should be alright, Porter does have two fully loaded sand domes don't forget."

Porter was glad of a chance to get out on the branch line, but to also get away from Bill and Ben's never ending teasing.

He was soon out on the branch line with the loaded train. The rails were slippery, but with the sand from his domes, he was able to carry on with great ease. Unknown to him and his crew though, the pipes that carry the sand from the domes to the pipes had some holes in them, and the sand was escaping.

Still, he reached Wellsworth safely where Neville was waiting for his train. He shunted the train over to Neville's line, and went to take on more water. As his fireman loaded up his tanks, the Stationmaster came over to see him, "there's a load that needs to get to the china clay pits, and the Fat Controller wants you to take it."

"Yes sir," said Porter.

The train was waiting on another siding. On one of the trucks was a blue tank engine with the letters S.C.C. painted in yellow on his sides.

"What are you doing on a flatbed?" Porter asked as he backed up.

"I'm due to go to the China Clay Pits," the engine explained, "but I wouldn't be able to make it there on my own, so that's why I'm on this flatbed. I'm Timothy by the way, what's your name?"

"Porter, and if you're going to work with Bill and Ben, then I'd suggest you be careful, they love to tease engines."

Porter was soon coupled up, the brakes were released and the bold tank engine set off back for the harbour.

They made good timing as they puffed along, and the two engines got into a friendly chat. Porter learned that Timothy is a oil burner, and had been bought to help as the china clay pits were becoming too busy as of late.

"They say they've enlarged the tunnels so I can go threw them, and they already have a fuel tank set up just for me," added Timothy. "I hear it's beautiful there, have you ever been there?"

"Not really, I've only worked at the docks with Salty. Today's the first time I'm getting to work outside the docks."

While chatting, Porter didn't know he was heading for trouble. As he climbed the steep hill before Brendam, the last of the sand in his domes ran out. He reached the top and started going down the other side, but to his surprise, he found himself speeding up.

"Uh, shouldn't we be slowing down?" he asked his Driver.

"We should, but we can't! We don't have anymore sand!"

This meant only one thing, they were out of control. "Help! Help!" cried Porter as his speed increased.

The docks soon came into view. Porter's Driver blasted the whistle as a warning.

Bill and Ben were shunting when they heard the whistle, "Oh listen Ben, the new engine is trying to show how impressive his whistle is," giggled Bill.

"The Camelback can try being a show-off, but he can't impress..."

But Ben was cut off as he saw Porter racing out of control down the tracks. They raced past them and over some points, heading straight for a siding with the water on the other side of the buffers. Porter tried again and again to stop, but it was no use. His crew jumped off as Porter smashed threw the buffers and splashed into the water. Many of the trucks followed him in, but not the last few trucks like the one Timothy was on.

"Porter! Are you alright?!" he cried.

Porter was too dazed to say anything.

Luckily, Harvey was nearby and came to clear up the mess. He pulled the remaining trucks away from the pier, then once unloaded and fired up, Timothy helped him move the soaking trucks out of the way.

It was dark by the time Porter was lifted out of the water. He was soaked, and one of his siderods were broken from the force of the impact.

"First Percy, then Kevin, now you," said the boat crane, "how many times is someone going to be fished out of the water?" Harvey stared at the boat, which made him quiet down at once.

The Fat Controller came to see him, "what happened Porter? How did this happen?"

"I don't know Sir, I thought we had plenty of sand for the journey, but I didn't as we began making our way down the hill."

A workman soon came up with the answer, "there are holes in your sand-pipes Porter, so that means most of the sand you had escaped through them."

"Oh no," groaned Porter.

The Fat Controller showed a kind smile, "don't worry Porter, these things happen from time to time. We'll have your pipes and siderod fixed in no time, then you'll be back at work."

"Thank you Sir."

The Fat Controller thanked Harvey and Timothy for their help as well. However, when he heard of what Bill and Ben have been saying to Porter, he wasn't so kind to them.

"I can't count how many times I have to have these conversions with engines like you two. All engines are useful, no matter what they look like. You should be grateful Porter is here, cause let's say Salty is called away, you'll have more work on your buffers."

The twins looked down sadly to their buffers, "we didn't think..."

"Sometimes I wonder if you do. Now behave yourselves, especially with the new engines; Timothy and Porter, or the next time we talk, it won't be pretty."

Bill and Ben gulped as the Fat Controller walked away.

Porter was soon fixed and back at work, and he's happier than ever. He still shunts, but sometimes he goes to the China Clay pits or take trucks down the branch line when the other engines are busy. He and Timothy are good friends, but from that day onwards, Porter has noticed that Bill and Ben have stopped calling him a camelback. But have they changed? Only time will tell for sure.


	15. Always Watching You

Before Christmas 2015, I had planned to post at least four adaptations for this folder, but things got to be busy and this story was not finished in time. However, it's done now and it's ready for your viewing pleasure. This story is based on a magazine story, and the character 'Seth' is a fan-made character created by: D.J. Scales, and used with his permission.

 _ **Always Watching You**_

 _ **Based on "Caught on Camera" (2013)**_

Bill and Ben are hard working little engines that help bring china clay from the pits to the docks where it's either loaded into ships for destinations around the world, or to be given to another engine that will take them to the main line. They also shunt at the docks if there's too much work for Salty to handle alone. But while they are hard working engines, they can also be a pair of troublemakers.

They love to play tricks on other engines and the other workers, and although they get scolded from time to time, they feel bad for a while, but it isn't long before they go back to their old ways. Sometimes though, they do get away as there is no evidence of what they are doing.

One morning, as Salty was busy shunting trucks for Cranky and Kevin to load up, Bill and Ben shunted a loaded china clay train ready for Molly the Yellow Engine to take away. However, they were being cheeky and decided to split the train. Half of it went into the correct siding, but the other half was put into a different siding out of sight.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" asked Ben's Driver. "I thought the train was suppose to be on one siding."

"Originally yes, but today the other half of the siding is closed off for repairs. We don't want trucks to come off the tracks, now do we?"

Not knowing it was a trick, their crews went along with it, all the while Bill and Ben snickered to themselves. They puffed away and went to take their empties.

Molly soon arrived and once coupled up to the one half of the train, she departed. The other trucks saw her leave and cried out; "hey, we're to go to the main line too!" But Molly was too far away to hear them properly.

"Bother those twins," groaned the trucks, "our china clay is important, and they play hide and seek with us."

Molly knew nothing about the trucks left behind and puffed proudly towards Wellsworth. She soon arrived and shunted them to the main line behind Murdoch. The Stationmaster came over to speak with her, "was the train too long for you?" he asked.

"No, it was surprising short and light today," Molly answered.

The Stationmaster quietly counted the trucks, then slapped his forehead, "Molly! You brought only half the trucks. There are suppose to be twenty hoods and tankers, not ten of them!"

"Ten?!" she exclaimed, "how did that happen?"

Her Driver sighed, "Must be Bill and Ben again, they probably hid the trucks on us."

"Oh no, now we'll be late with this delivery."

She was sadly right. The time it took to get the other half of the train and bring it back to Wellsworth meant that Murdoch was late getting started, which held up many trains on the main line, including Pip and Emma's express to London. Everyone grew cross and blamed Molly for the delays.

The Fat Controller came to see her that night, "I didn't know that my trucks were hidden from me Sir," she said, "I thought the whole train was coupled up."

"So did we," added her fireman.

"It's alright, I'm not cross with you three, I know this wasn't your fault and you tried your best to make up for lost time. As for Bill and Ben, I'll make sure they are dealt with."

But when he spoke to Bill and Ben at the pits, they just smiled. They were prepared for this, "Sir, you can't suggest that we did anything wrong. We shunted the trucks into the siding and took our empties back," said Bill.

"Yeah," added Ben, "did anyone see us shunt the trains into two different sidings?"

The Fat Controller was about to answer, but was silent as no one mentioned seeing them.

"Perhaps Molly shunted her trucks into the wrong siding on purpose Sir."

Of course they were fibbing, but the Fat Controller knew there was no way to prove that they were playing tricks, so he sighed, gave them a little warning and went back home, feeling rather beaten. Bill and Ben snickered quietly to each other.

The next morning, Salty was shunting trucks around the docks when he spotted a young man filming him. It was the son of his Driver; Seth.

"Arr, morning Seth, why are you filming me with that camera?"

"Oh I'm just filming you for a project I'm doing for school," he explained. "We've all been asked to film the everyday lifestyles of our parents, and since my dad works as your Driver, I thought of no better place to film."

"Well matey that sounds lovely, just remember to be careful around here, trains are not toys you know. Arr-arr."

"Don't worry Salty, I'll be careful," Seth smiled.

Just then, Molly arrived, feeling rather miserable, "arr, what's the matter lass? Ye look like someone stole your tender."

"It's not that, I have to collect another train from Bill and Ben, and sadly the Fat Controller had no evidence to prove they were the ones responsible for yesterday's delays, so I know they'll be up to no good again today."

"Aye well, that is a problem there. If only there were cameras around here, then maybe they'd behave."

Salty's Driver gasped and looked with a smirk over to his son, "hey Seth, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think I am Dad, and it will definetly work."

Once explained to the two engines, they agreed to give it a try.

Later on, Bill and Ben arrived with their train of trucks. They found Molly near the water tower, "mind you don't you lose your trucks today Molly, or you will cause trouble for the North Western again," they teased.

Molly just smiled, "don't worry, I'll be on time today."

Unknown to the crews, Bill and Ben made up a false story that some of the truck's brakes were playing up and they needed to shunt some of them out of the way. They did so, but while doing that, they had no idea that Seth was watching them and pointing his camera at them. They soon finished and puffed away. As they did so, Bill spotted someone moving around, "uh Ben, did you see that?"

"See what Bill?"

"It was...oh never mind, must've been my imagination."

The twins soon coupled up to their empties and set off back to the clay pits. Once gone, Seth came out of his hiding place and told Molly of where the rest of her train was. Thanks to Seth, the train ran on time and reached Wellsworth only a minute late.

"All twenty trucks counted for today?" asked the Stationmaster.

"Indeed Sir, the trucks are all here and ready to be taken away. Won't Bill and Ben be surprised?"

The next day, the twins came back to the docks where they found themselves being confronted by Molly, Salty, the crews and Seth.

"Uh, good morning all, what's going on here?" asked Bill.

Molly stared firmly at them, "I know you hid my trucks again yesterday."

"And how would you know?" asked Ben. "You were at the water tower, and there was no one else around to see us. With no prove, we can't get into trouble."

"Or so you think," said Seth and pulled out his camera. He turned it on and showed the twins their shunting from yesterday. "I caught you two in the act."

The twins gulped nervously, "we were only trying to have fun."

"At my expansive," said Molly crossly, "I could've gotten into a lot of trouble thanks to your tricks. Not to mention more trains would've been delayed, and people would've started saying what a bad railway this is."

The twins felt ashamed.

"We'll make you a deal though," said Salty, "if you lads promise to stop hiding trucks from us, we won't turn in this footage of you."

"If you don't, then I'm sure the Fat Controller will enjoy watching this little video," said Seth with a sly grin.

Not wanting to get into trouble again, the twins made the promise.

From that day onwards, whenever the twins decided to play hide and seek with the trucks, their crews would firmly remind them of the footage taken of them. Needless to say, the game of Hide and seek finally came to an end at the docks.


	16. Gordon Springs a Leak

If you're long time readers of my channel, then you'll remember I did an adaptation of Gordon Runs Dry called 'A Leaky Problem for Gordon'. Well it was an okay adaptation, but I felt that I had left some important bits like Gordon getting scolded for letting his boiler run dry. However this adaptation I've done is shorter than the last one, but it does feature the scolding and a different way of how Gordon gets the hole in his boiler. Also note the two young kids introduced in this story are characters that were created by: D.J. Scales and used with his permission. Oh and don't worry, the next adaptation to come after this is my adaptation of 'Henry's Hero'. It's finished, I just need to finish editing it, then it's ready for your viewing pleasure.

 _ **Gordon Springs a Leak**_

 _ **Based on "Gordon Runs Dry" (2013)**_

One morning, Duck was pulling into the big station with Alice and Mirabel. He had had a good run, and the passengers had enjoyed themselves. Someone who wasn't enjoying themselves was Gordon as he stood at the platform and waiting for Stafford to bring his coaches.

"Where is that lazy electric engine? I can't be kept waiting all day," grumbled Gordon.

"What's the rush Gordon?" Duck asked. "You haven't pulled the express in two years, so you don't run by that timetable."

"It's the priciple of the matter Duck. A fine engine like myself needs to be on time, _everytime,_ and I can't do that when I'm running late."

Duck chuckled, "maybe then you should fetch your own coaches Gordon." Gordon huffed angerily. Duck rolled his eyes, "and don't bother saying that 'tender engines don't shunt', that's how you got in trouble all those years ago."

Gordon shuddered. He did not like being reminded of when he, Henry and James went on strike because they refused to shunt and got shut up as punishment.

At last, they heard an electric horn. "Sorry about the wait Gordon, but Murdoch brought in some trucks and I had to attend to them, or else the yard would've become crowded."

"Bother your trucks, my passengers are more important than you're silly goods work."

"All work is important Gordon, you should know that by now."

Duck called back to Stafford, "I wouldn't bother trying to reason with him. Gordon can be a little stubborn when he wants to be." Duck was uncoupled and puffed off to the water tower to take on more water.

His fireman had just climbed onto the top of his tanks when a guard's whistle was heard, and Gordon steamed away.

"Look at me little Duck, for I'm the grandest engine on Sodor," and he disappeared into the distance.

Duck rolled his eyes and sighed, "that ego of his will get him into trouble and that's no mistake."

Speaking of trouble, far down the line at a railway station, two young girls were standing on the foot-bridge and waiting for a train to pass. But they weren't there to wave at the train, they wanted to throw stones at the train. They were the troublesome daughters of Mavis' Driver; Vypra and Rachel. They love to cause trouble, but it doesn't take long for them to get caught.

Their waiting period soon came to an end as they could see Gordon coming in with the stopping passenger train. He whistled as he came to the station.

"Get ready Vypra, here he comes," snickered Rachel.

They picked up their rocks and once they felt Gordon was in postion, they threw the rocks at him.

"Ouch! Ow! Oof!" he cried. Then it happened. Vypra picked up a big rock, one that was bigger than all the rest, and threw it right at Gordon. It bashed aganist his boiler hard. "Ouch!" he cried again.

"Right, let's get out of here before we're caught," said Vyrpa.

Rachel nodded and together they ran off before the stationmaster or station staff could get them. Luckily, Gordon had to stop, so his crew took the time to look him over, but they could find nothing wrong.

"Bother those girls, they could've damaged something," grumbled the fireman, "just wait till their father hears about this."

The Driver shook his head, "makes you wonder where those parents went wrong."

Once all the passengers were on board, Gordon pulled out of the station. But he was hardly out of the station when he started to feel odd, like he was thirsty.

"Are you giving me enough water?" he asked the fireman.

"Of course I am," answered the fireman, "maybe we forgot to fill your tender up earlier. Never mind, we'll get more water at the next station."

At the next station, Gordon's fireman filled up his tender to the brim. It was soon full and they were off again. They had enough to get to Edward's Station, and to get over Gordon's hill, but as they were going down, Gordon began to feel thirsty again.

"Oh botheration, not again," he grumbled to himself.

This time though, he didn't say a word, so his crew were unaware of the situation.

They soon reached Crovan's Gate where they met up with Duke's connecting passenger train. Once the passengers had changed trains, Gordon puffed away. As he did so, Duke could see a trail of water on the lineside.

"Hmm, I wonder if that's from Gordon," he thought to himself.

It was from Gordon, he and his crew just didn't know it yet.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry," he panted to himself.

But soon he began to feel himself slow down to a crawl. He tried to go faster, but his steam preasure was getting lower with every second that passed, and soon he stopped, out of steam and stranded on the main line.

"What's he up to now?" asked the Driver.

The fireman got down to talk to Gordon, then gasped, "well I'll be, so _that's_ why we ran out of water. There's a small hole in the side of Gordon's boiler, and whenever we added water, some of it escaped through it. But we checked him over before, and there was no hole."

"It must've popped open during the journey," said the driver. Then he and the fireman turned to Gordon, "But why didn't you let us know you were low on water?"

"And risk being taken off of this train too? The others would never let me hear the end of it."

The fireman slapped his forehead, "so you risk damaging your boiler, just so you can stay on the front of the train? Honestly Gordon, you'll over ninty years old, yet you still act like a stubborn child. Your health is important too, you should know that."

Gordon sighed and said no more.

The Driver used his mobile phone to call for help, and soon Murdoch arrived to take the passenger train away.

"Don't worry Gordon, I'll get your passengers to where they need to go. I may not be a fast engine, but at least I have a full tender."

Once gone, Wendell the Works diesel arrived to take Gordon back to the works, but Gordon didn't want to be pulled along the line by a diesel, so he slipped his brakes on.

"Gordon, would you mind releasing your brakes?" Wendell asked kindly. "Otherwise it'll be hard work for me to shunt you."

Gordon refused. His Driver spoke out to him, "if you don't release your brakes, you won't be going anywhere Gordon!"

Gordon gave in then. He allowed his brakes to be released, and Wendell towed him back to the Works. He wasn't feeling grand now, he felt rather silly.

During his time there, the Fat Controller assigned his trains to Barry, James or Belle. As for Gordon, he spoke with him about what happens to engines who let their boilers run dry.

When he finally came back to work, the other engines teased him to no end.

"Don't forget to fill your tender up now Gordon," chuckled Henry. "We wouldn't want you to stop on the main now do we?"

"Indeed not," agreed James with a chuckle, "it would be undignified. Don't you agree Gordon?"

Gordon said nothing. He thought the other engines had an odd sense of humor. As for Rachel and Vypra, well they were caught and their parents had to pay the fines for the damage to Gordon. After that, the parents gave the girls a piece of their minds, which they soon wished they hadn't.


	17. Keep on Puffing

Here now is another requested adaptation. I know my adaptations and other stories are coming out slower than they used to, but that's because I want to bring out good stories with very little mistakes. Oh and in case you're wondering, Wendell is a Class 47 diesel that's mostly based at the works unless asked to help on the main line.

 _ **Keep On Puffing**_

 _ **Based on "Henry's Hero" (2013)**_

One morning, Henry was puffing over to the coal chute. Today he was to be working with Hiro in bringing heavy stone from the junction of Thomas' branch line to the harbour near the big station. As he arrived, he found Hiro ahead of him.

"Nearly done here Henry, then it'll be your turn," Hiro called back to the green engine.

Hiro's fireman coughed as the last of the coal was poured into the tender, "sure is dusty today, I may be coughing and sneezing all the way," he grumbled.

"You'll be fine Marc," said the driver, "now come on, let's get Hiro's tender filled up with water."

With a toot of the whistle, Hiro puffed away from the chute and Henry puffed underneath it. Henry's Driver coughed as the coal was loaded into the tender too, "must be a new type we're using," he thought to himself.

Once loaded up, the engines collected two brake vans and puffed their way to the junction.

Splatter and Dodge had been enlisted to help bring the stone from Ffarquhar to the junction while the other engines carried on with their normal work. Dodge was just finishing his shunting when he saw two clouds of black smoke in the distance.

"Hullo, what's going on there?" he asked out loud. "Oi Splatter, can you see what's making all that smoke?"

Splatter looked down the tracks and soon had the answer, "oh yeah, I can see where it's coming from, and it doesn't look good."

Meanwhile, Henry and Hiro were nearing the junction when Henry noticed something, "Hiro, you're blowing black smoke everywhere, are you feeling alright?"

"I could ask you the same question Henry, you're blowing black smoke too."

The two engines stopped at the junction, puzzled as to why they were blowing black smoke. Then Duck came into view with several coal wagons behind him.

"Oh dear, looks like you two got loaded up with bad coal this morning," he said.

"What bad coal?" asked Henry in surprise.

"A bad supply came from the Other Railway, and it's causing alot of engines to blow off nasty black smoke," explained Duck. "The Fat Controller's asked myself, Belle and Barry to collect coal from the Skarloey Railway as they have plenty of coal mines. It'll take time though to fill up the bunkers, so be careful until then."

He blew a cheerful whistle and puffed off into the distance.

"I was wondering why the coal was so dusty this morning," said Hiro's fireman.

"Oh well, we'll have to continue on," said Henry's Driver.

But Henry was aganist the idea. He remembered years ago when he had bad coal in his boiler, and he couldn't breathe by the time he got to Edward's station. He did not want to go threw that again. His Driver and fireman tried to get him to move, but he wouldn't budge.

"Come on Henry, a job's a job, and we'll clean you out in the yards."

"I'm sorry Drvier, but I refuse to go until the new coal gets here."

"Don't be silly Henry," Hiro said firmly, "we have to keep on puffing and get the job done."

But Henry still refused. In the end, Splatter and Dodge had to move him to a siding out of the way, and Hiro took charge of the entire train alone. He struggled at first to get moving, but soon the train was in motion.

Puffing along the line, Hiro could feel the weight of the heavily loaded stone trucks. He wished for a rest, but he knew he had to keep going, "it would never do to have a late delivery," he thought to himself.

He soon puffed into view of another station. Gordon was there with the stopping passenger train. As Hiro got closer, he smelled something.

"Oh my, what is that horrible smell?" he cried.

"Sorry Gordon, I think that's me," apologized Hiro. "It's from the bad coal I took this morning."

"Not again," groaned Gordon. "Two engines have broken down because of it already. Get your firebox cleaned out before you break down."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, this load is far too important to be kept waiting."

Hiro puffed on as his dirty smelly smoke poured into the air. Poor Gordon had to hold his breath to keep from smelling it.

At the docks, Billy the orange tank engine was shunting trucks when Hiro arrived. He took one sniff and started to laugh, "oh my Hiro, you smell worse than Whiff."

"Less of your insults Billy," he said firmly. "These loads are ready to be shunted, I'm going back for another train."

After collecting his next load, Hiro puffed on with every bit of determination he had, but it was hard going as his funnel was getting blocked by the thick cinders and ashes from the bad coal.

"Just keep going and I'll have a chance for a rest," Hiro thought to himself.

He soon reached the docks again and on time too. Hiro was uncoupled and taken to a siding where his fire was damped down and his funnel was given a good cleaning. Gratefully, Hiro began to feel better.

"Right, now for that firebox," said the fireman.

But before he could do anything, the dock manager arrived, "I recieved a phone call from the Fat Controller, and he wants both you and Henry to bring a load of steel pipes from the Ironworks to the docks."

"But Hiro's got a bad load of coal," protested the fireman, "I don't know if he'll be able to go on with it."

"I know that, but he and Henry are the only engines available. Many of the other steam engines are breaking down because of this coal. This delivery cannot wait as the ship leaves at four."

"Right then, we better get Henry," said Hiro.

The Driver and fireman agreed and once they had collected another brake van, they set off for the junction.

Henry was still refusing to move, despite his Driver and fireman telling him otherwise. Hiro soon arrived and spoke with Henry, "I know you've had bad experience with bad coal in the past Henry, but I really need your help with the next job." And he told Henry of what they needed to do.

"I hate to disappoint, but I won't risk it."

His Driver and fireman were about to argue with him again, but Hiro spoke first, "sometimes Henry, you need to take the risks. I did today while taking the stone trucks alone, and with a bad load of coal."

"Wasn't that hard on you Hiro?"

"It was, but you got to keep going, or you'll let the railway down, and people will start complaining and say it's a terrible railway. You wouldn't want that now would you?"

Henry admitted that he didn't want that, so he agreed to help.

Once his fire had been built up, he and Hiro puffed off to the Ironworks.

They collected twelve fully loaded flatbeds with steel pipes on them. They were heavy, but the engines were determined.

"Keep on puffing, keep on puffing," Hiro panted to himself.

"I don't know if I can. I don't know if I can," Henry muttered to himself.

They were doing well, but not for long. Hiro was puffing hard when suddenly, there was a crash from underneath his cab. The driver blew a whistle and the train stopped.

"Hiro, what's the matter?" cried Henry, "I thought you said to keep on puffing."

"I'm not sure what's going on Henry, but I have a dreadful feeling of what happened."

The fireman got down to inspect and confirmed Hiro's worst suspicions, "the floor for your firebox has been burnt away and all your fire has fallen onto the ground. It must've been the ashes from the bad coal."

Quickly, they put out the fire. The line was safe, but now Hiro couldn't puff on.

"Guess we'll have to call for Wendell to help us," sighed Hiro.

"Not today," cried Henry. "I'll push you to the docks."

The Driver and fireman gasped, "Henry, you'll never be able to push Hiro and all the flatbeds to the docks, it's too risky for an engine burning a bad load of coal."

"A few hours ago, I would've agreed with you, but after hearing how Hiro carried on, I think it's only fair that I keep going. Besides, if I could take two diesels and their trains while I had a jammed regulator, surely I can do this."

The crew gave in then and decided to try. Henry puffed and pushed with all might. It wasn't easy and he was feeling stuffed up, but he kept on puffing. Hiro cheered him on and kept a good look out for him.

At last, they reached the docks where they were cheered to the echo by the workmen.

The Fat Controller was also there, "well done you two, despite the bad load of coal, you never gave up, I'm very proud of you, in spite of not doing your work earlier," he added, looking over to Henry.

"Any engine could've done that Sir," said Hiro, "but Henry soon got over his fears and helped out. He even pushed me and these trucks when I broke down."

"Thanks to your inspiration. I guess I just needed a kick in the old buffers if you know what I mean."

"Well either way, I'm proud of you both. I'll have Bear take you to the works, then help Splatter and Dodge with the rest of the stone delivery."

It took quite a while for the bad coal to be removed from the railway, but soon the coal from the Skarloey Railway's mines were in the chutes and bunkers, and all the engines were working perfectly. Henry just needed a good cleaning and was soon back at work. Hiro was in the works for several days before he too returned to work.

On the day of his return, he found Henry at the Big Station with a passenger train.

"Hello Hiro, thank you for reminding me that an engine must keep going, no matter what the situation."

"Just glad I could help Henry, but I want to thank you for not giving up when I broke down. The Passengers of Bear's train all those years ago were right, you are an enterprising engine."

Henry smiled, "so are you Hiro."

A guard's whistle sounded and Henry puffed cheerfully away, a happier and wiser engine.


	18. Millie and the Deer

Well after a long period of time, I'm finally ready to present to you a new 2013 Thomas Episode Adaptation. This one is part 1 of 2, so the second half should be coming out real soon. I felt that this story and the second part to follow should be a two parter instead of having Millie go to the Skarloey Railway in the beginning of the story, then return to the castle in the same story at the end.

 _ **Millie & the Deer**_

 _ **Based on "Luke's New Friend" (2013)**_

Millie is a small narrow gauge engine that loves working at the Earl of Sodor's castle and estate. She takes visitors on tours around the area, and delivers supplies to many areas for the workers to use. She loves her work, but sometimes she longs to travel beyond the castle and see more of the Island for herself. However, she believes that she is the only narrow gauge engine on Sodor and that her tracks end in the yards before the hill that leads back to the town of Ulfstead.

However, she was wrong, as she would soon find out.

The Earl of Sodor had recently ordered a large order of stone from Ffarquhar Quarry, and everyday, Millie and Stephen would see Toby or Mavis bring heavy trucks up the hill, all filled to the top with stone.

"What is all this for?" Millie asked the Earl one day.

"Some parts of the castle are in desperate need of repair, and these stones will help us fix the entire castle to it's true former glory," he smiled. "However, this will mean services will be cancelled until the work is done. At least you two will have a chance to rest your wheels."

Millie sighed unhappily, "as you wish Sir."

Mavis had been delivering trucks at the time and saw the sad look on Millie's face, "what's the matter Millie? A rest will do you good. After all, you have been busy since the castle reopned to the public."

"Perhaps, but it's the long waiting period that gets to me," she said. "You see, I spent years locked up in my shed and only before the castle reopened was I able to recieve an overhaul and get back to work. I want to continue working and be useful to others."

"Then why not tell the Earl?"

"Cause there's no where else for me to work, there are no other narrow gauge railways on Sodor. Plus my tracks end in these yards."

Mavis was surprised by what she heard, "you mean to tell me that you've never heard of the Skarloey Railway?"

"The what railway?"

Mavis' Driver climbed down with his mobile phone and showed Millie images of the little narrow gauge engines of the Skarloey railway, as well as some videos of them in action.

" _Sacre bleu!_ " Millie exclaimed, "there really are other narrow gauge engines on Sodor. I wish I could meet them, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. The Earl told me to rest my wheels, plus I have no way of getting there."

"You can always travel by the North Western," suggested Mavis. "One of us can deliver you to Crovan's Gate."

"Yes but the Earl said..."

"I'm sure if you told the Earl of your dream to travel, maybe he'll grant it to you."

"And indeed I will," came the voice of the Earl. Millie nearly jumped in surprise as she didn't hear him come back. "If you really want to go work for the Skarloey Railway while we continue with our work here, I'll change my decision and make arrangements for you to go there."

"Really Sir?"

"Of course, and I'll do the same for Stephen, so that way he won't be miserable either. After all," he said proudly, "nothing in life makes happier than to bring smiles to people or engine's faces."

Millie's face lit up, " _Merci_ Sir, I would love that."

Stephen also agreed to the idea, and after he made the suggestion of where he wanted to go, the Earl went to make arrangements.

A couple of days later, Rheneas was puffing down from the top level of the Blue Mountain Quarry with a train load of stone. It was part of the last load of the day, and after all the work he had been doing, he was looking forward to getting back to the shed for a rest. All was going well, that was until...

"What in blazes!"

With his whistle blowing and brakes screeching, Rheneas skidded on the slope tracks. Thankfully he stopped with inches to spare from a deer. It stared at Rheneas, that was until the Driver pulled on the whistle chain and scared it away.

"Ouch, why did you bump us Rheneas?" grumbled the trucks.

"I didn't mean to, it's just that a deer jumped out in front of us," he explained. "And it was a young one too by the looks of it. It gave me quite a fright I will admit."

"It did the same to us," admitted the Driver, "but what's a deer doing here in the quarry?"

"I'm not sure, but I do hope it'll stay out of the way of others, otherwise it could get hurt."

The crew agreed and after checking the brakes, Rheneas started off once more with his loaded train.

Rheneas soon returned to Crovan's Gate, just in time to see Ivo Hugh pull Millie off her flatbed and onto the Skarloey Railway's line. The engines thanked Emily the Stirling Single, then watched as she puffed off back to the branch line.

"Welcome to the Skarloey Railway Millie," smiled the Thin Controller, "you have come at a rather good time as our No 6 engine Duncan is in the works for an overhaul and won't be back till next year. We've been struggling for quite a while without him, but I trust with you around, we can get the work done."

"For sure Sir, you can count on me."

The Thin Controller smiled, "good to hear that, now you may get to know the other engines. As for me, I need to go home to my family, I'll return in the morning with your jobs."

He climbed onto his bike and rode away.

The engines introduced themselves to Millie, then Rheneas told them of his close call in the Blue Mountain Quarry.

"It's strange to hear there is a deer in the quarry," said Luke. "I've been working there for a long time, and not once have I ever seen a deer there."

"Maybe it was looking for food and got lost in the quarry," suggested Peter Sam.

"Who knows," said Skarloey. "But to be on the safe side, we should keep a good look out for it."

"That includes you Sir Handel," snickered Peter Sam. Sir Handel glared, and the other engines hushed him.

Millie quietly chuckled. For engines she had only just learned about, they sure were a nice and funny group.

Morning soon came, and Millie's driver and fireman got her ready to go to work. She yawned and looked outside, "the scenery may look different, but the sunrise is still just as beautiful as ever," she whispered.

"It is indeed old girl," smiled her Driver.

"It's too early," grumbled a voice from behind her. It was coming from Sir Handel. "I want more sleep."

"Tough luck Sir Handel," said the voice of his Driver. "You're going to work today, and that's final."

Millie was going to ask a question, but Peter Sam encouraged her not to. He whispered to Millie that Sir Handel doesn't mind hard work, it's just that sometimes he gets grumpy if he feels he's overworked.

Ten minutes later, the Thin Controller arrived.

"Right then engines, here are your jobs for the day. Luke, Duke, Ivo Hugh and Skarloey, you will be working at the Blue Mountain Quarry. We have a huge load of stone that needs to go to the Transfer yards, so make sure it's delivered before five this evening. Sir Handel, you will be taking Millicent and Gertrude on runs through the hills."

Sir Handel beamed just hearing that. Peter Sam then whispered to Millie, "he will cheer up though when he gets to take his favourite coaches."

"Peter Sam, I want you, Freddie and Rheneas to work at the incline," continued the Thin Controller. "Rusty and Fred, you will be working with Mr Hugh this morning."

"Again?" groaned Fred the diesel.

"Yes again, or do we need to lock you up in your shed for not doing what you're told to do?" the Thin Controller asked crossly. Fred went silent at once. "And Millie, you will be taking workers to and from the quarry, and assist the others in delivering stone to the Transfer yards when needed."

"Yes Sir," smiled Millie.

With a good head of steam, Millie puffed over to the coach yards. She found Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice waiting.

"Who are you?" they asked in surprise.

"I'm Millie," she answered, "I'm working here while work goes on at Ulfstead castle."

"A castle based engine?" asked Agnes, "oh how wonderful. Do be careful with us though, we are very old and fragile coaches."

Mille slowly buffered up to the coaches, then once she was coupled up, she puffed slowly out of the yards, being very careful not to bump the coaches. They were very impressed and followed her smoothly to the station where the workmen were waiting.

"Oh my, what a smart looking engine," said one of them.

"I've seen this engine at Ulfstead Castle, she gives very smooth rides," said another.

They climbed into the carriages and once the guard blew his whistle, Millie set off for the Blue Mountain Quarry.

When she arrived, she was startled by all the sounds around her. Saws were buzzing as they cut rock, engines were going back and forth with their trucks, cranes and inclines were busy lifting stone from one level to another and explosions could be heard as dynamite was used to blow the rocks off the quarry walls. Millie had to admit, this was very different from the work at the castle.

She stopped near a small office, and the men climbed out to start their work day.

"Thank you for the splendid ride Millie," they all said cheerfully.

Owen the Incline had been watching Millie and hadn't noticed that something had jumped onto his platform. Thinking it was a truck, he lowered one of his platforms and started lifting up the other one.

"What in the world?" cried a workman.

Owen looked down and was surprised to see that instead of two trucks, there was only one and a baby deer riding on the platform.

"Hold on tight little friend," Owen said gently.

Thankfully the deer stayed on the platform all the way down to the ground level before running off.

"It must be the same deer that spooked Rheneas last night," said Ivo Hugh. He had just come down from the top level with trucks and had seen everything, "a quarry is no place for an animal, it belongs in the forest."

"Agreed," said his Driver. "We should catch it and take it back there before it gets hurt."

Catching the deer though was not easy as the engines and machines were quite noisy. When workmen tried to sneak up on the deer, something would scare it and it would run off.

"Oh botheration," they all said.

"It's no use," groaned Luke. "We'd have to be quiet before someone can get the deer and get it out of the quarry."

"But even if we could get the deer, how are we going to get it out of here?" asked Duke, "in our open wagons, it could easily jump out and go to a different spot of the quarry."

The engines thought about it, then Millie had an idea, "why not use Beatrice? If we use her, the deer can't run off until we get to the forest."

Everyone thought that was a good idea and put a plan into motion. During one of her runs to the Transfer yards, Millie's Driver got some straw from a farmer and placed it inside of Beatrice. It took longer than expected, but at a quiet time, the workmen were able to catch the deer and put it inside of Beatrice.

"Alright Millie, get it back to the forest," smiled the quarry manager.

Puffing slowly and carefully, Millie puffed away from the quarry. She puffed along the line until she reached a forest, and there they found a doe; a mother deer.

"That must be the baby deer's mother," said Millie.

"You could be right there girl," smiled her Driver.

They stopped the train and the guard opened the door. The deer scrambled out in fright, but once it saw it's mother, it ran happily up to her. Millie and the crew watched in silence, it was a heart-warming moment. After a few minutes, the family ran off until they were out of sight.

"Well done girl," smiled the Driver, "you are a clever engine, we'll be sure to tell the Earl this when we get back to the castle."

Millie smiled, "it's all in a day's work. Speaking of which, we better get going, or else we're going to be late with our delivery."

The crew agreed and Millie started off once more towards the transfer yards.


End file.
